The stadium, built by German architect Paul Bonatz, was a donation from local industrialist Willy Sachs to the City of Schweinfurt. As the club's patron, Willy Sachs designated a privileged right of use of all facilities for 1. FC Schweinfurt 05.[3]
Leading politicians of Nazi Germany attended the opening ceremony on 23 July 1936.[2][4][5]
Three days later, the new Willy-Sachs-Stadion saw its first game, a 2–2 draw between 1. FC Schweinfurt 05 and 1935 German champion FC Schalke 04.[3]
The stadium has been top-tier venue all the time between 1936 and 1963, and was home stadium to second-tier football for many of the following years, most recently during the 2001–02 season. In addition, from 1939 on Schweinfurt 05 played a larger number of German Cup matches at the stadium.[6][7]
Attendance record of the stadium was 22,500 at a friendly between Schweinfurt 05 and 1. FC Kaiserslautern in 1954.[8]
Today the stadium is listed as historic monument and is thus subject to preservation orders.[9][10]
As part of the Schweinfurt Lest we forget initiative, in 2001 the local press including Süddeutsche Zeitung and author Werner Skrentny initiated a campaign to rename the Willy-Sachs-Stadion due to Sachs' Nazi affiliation.[11]
The campaign met with low approval among the general public.[12]
In June 2021, however, the Schweinfurt city council finally decided to change the name of the stadium into Sachs-Stadion, in recognition of the value of the former Fichtel & Sachs company (now part of ZF Friedrichshafen) for the development of Schweinfurt.[13][14]
Facilities
Standing rooms with Marathon gate (2017)View onto court and grandstand (2017)
The stadium complex consists of the main field with a capacity of 15,060 (the actual Sachs-Stadion) and several additional courts for training and youth matches, including an artificial turf pitch.[15]
The main stadium offers a covered grandstand, hosting 860 seats, and standing rooms around the residual circumference, which is planted with two rows of linden trees. The football field is flanked by various track and field facilities and a classical Marathon gate.
Premises at the stadium include changing rooms for players, coaches, and referees. Speaker cabins and a press area are available in the grandstand.
To meet 2nd Bundesliga regulations, in 2001 terracing has been renovated, and the stadium was equipped with floodlight masts.[16] In addition, Schweinfurt's large industry contributed an electronic scoreboard, that was replaced in 2022 by a 30 sqm LED screen.[17] Due to increased security standards, wavebreakers had to be installed on the standing rooms in 2014 to safeguard the full capacity.[18] In 2019, the grandstand was outfitted with new green and white seats that represent the colours of 1. FC Schweinfurt 05.[19]
