Stadium Regulations

(1)   These rules and regulations apply to the geographical area which extends over the assembly areas and facilities of Stadion An der Alten Försterei Stadionbetriebs AG located within the following enclosures.

This area stretches from the street An der Wuhlheide in the west, to the enclosure of the main stadium An der Alten Försterei in the east (Sector 3), as well as from the northern enclosure to the Wuhlheide forest, to the enclosure of the street An der Wuhle in the south.

(2)  The rules and regulations are valid on the respective days of all events which take place in the Stadion An der Alten Försterei or at the nearby grounds. The rules and regulations also apply outside the named areas (car parks) if these areas are not regulated by their own rules.

(1)   The stadium primarily serves to stage football games, to host major events and to stage events of prestigious character.

(2)   The general public has neither the right to enter, nor a right to use, the assembly areas or the facilities of the stadium.

(3)   Individual concluded contracts for the use of the stadium comply with civil law.

(1)  The assembly areas and enclosures of the Stadion An der Alten Försterei may only be visited by people who hold a valid entrance ticket, or a special entitlement pass which they carry, or by people with authorisation to attend an event which can be proved by other means. Within the stadium grounds, entrance tickets and entitlement passes are to be shown to security staff, stewards, the police and regulatory authorities when requested.

(2)  Visitors should sit in the seat indicated on their entrance ticket for the corresponding event. Only designated routes and entrances should be used on the journey to and from the seat. Private areas are not to be accessed.

(3)  The general public are not allowed to enter the stadium on event-free days. This excludes the premises used for business activities (the offices of 1. FC Union Berlin e.V., the ticket office, and the fan shop) during the corresponding opening hours.

(4)  The car parks may only be used when permission has been authorized.

(1)  On entering the stadium grounds, each visitor has the duty to present his entrance ticket or entitlement pass to the security staff and stewards, without being asked, and to hand it over for examination when required.

(2)  People who cannot prove their authorisation and people who appear to be a security risk will be turned away and their entrance to the Stadion An der Alten Försterei will be blocked. The same applies to people who have a valid local or national stadium ban. If such banned people are encountered within the fenced areas, they will be expelled from the stadium.

(3)  The security staff and stewards are authorized to search people – also by using technical means – in order to determine whether they pose a risk on the grounds of alcohol or drugs or by carrying weapons or other dangerous items which are defined in Section 6, or if they possess inflammable materials. Garments and containers that are carried along may also be searched.

(4)  Visitors who refuse to be searched, or who publicly appear to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or who carry weapons or other dangerous items which are defined in Section 6 and those who are not in agreement with the safeguards of the security staff and stewards, are likewise to be turned away and their entrance to the stadium will be blocked.

(5)   With regard to people inside the fenced area, who are suspected of having committed an offence because of their behaviour or other information or indications, or who have a valid local or national stadium ban against attending sporting events, or who appear to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or who carry weapons or other dangerous items which are defined in Section 6, the security staff and stewards of the event operator are entitled with the authorized approval of the event operator, to search their garments and containers in order to clarify facts, as well as to verify their identity by inspecting their identity documents.

(1)  Inside the stadium grounds, each visitor is to conduct himself in such a manner that no other person is injured, endangered or – more than is unavoidable under the circumstances – hindered or inconvenienced.

(2)  Visitors to the An der Alten Försterei stadium recognize the rights of all people not to be discriminated against, irrespective of their race, their ethnic origin, their religion, their ideology, their age, a disability or their sexual orientation. The possibility, of curtailing these principles in the case of justified circumstances or heightened security requirements in each individual case by the legislator or the event organizer, remains unaffected thereby.

(3)  Visitors are to follow the instructions of the police, the fire brigade, the security staff and stewards, the rescue services, as well as the stadium announcers.

(4)  For security reasons and to avert danger, visitors are obligated to follow the instructions of the police, the fire brigade, the security staff and stewards, to occupy seats other than those specified on their entrance tickets – that may also be in other blocks (sections) of the stadium.

(5)  All entrances and exits, as well as escape routes, must be kept clear at all times.

(6)  During an ongoing event, it is not permitted to stand in the seating areas.

(7)  The An der Alten Försterei stadium and its enclosed areas are under video surveillance for security reasons and to avert dangers.

(1)  Visitors to the stadium are not allowed to bring the following items:

a)    Weapons of any kind;

b)    Items or objects, which may be used as weapons or as projectiles, which by their nature could cause injury, harm or damage to people or property;

c)    Objects or clothing, which are suitable as protective weapons, and which could be utilized under given circumstances, in order to fend off the highest authorized enforcement measures;

d)    Items, which are likely and intended to hinder the establishment of someone’s identity;

e)    Aerosol spray cans and pressurized containers for highly inflammable or health endangering gases (apart from commercial cigarette lighters), inflammable liquids, and corrosive or colouring substances;

f)     Bottles (also PET bottles), beakers, mugs and cans, which are fragile or made of splintering or especially hardened material; it is permitted to carry alcohol-free drinks such as those in Tetra Paks or drinks for small children in the designated containers;

g)    Bulky items such as ladders, stools, chairs, crates, suitcases;

h)   Fireworks, rockets, Bengal fireworks, smoke powder, smoke bombs, flares and other pyrotechnic articles;

i)     Flags or sign poles measuring more than 1.5 meters in length or 3 cm in diameter (apart from flags with flag passes) as well as large area banners and unregistered banners, large quantities of paper or paper rolls (wallpaper);

j)     Electrical and mechanically driven noise devices and voice amplifiers;

k)    Drugs and alcoholic drinks of all kinds;

l)     Animals (except with exceptional permission, for example, guide dogs);

m)  Laser pointers;

n)   Video cameras or other sound and image recording devices, cameras which can be utilized for a commercial purpose (except those with the appropriate permission of the event organizer);

o)    Propaganda materials with glorifying violence, racist, xenophobic, anti-Semitic or radical content;

p)    Garments, whose production, sale, or target group is generally recognized to refer to right-wing extremism;

q)    Advertising or religious articles, which are intended to disseminate or transmit commercial or religious attitudes;

(2)  Visitors are also forbidden:

a)    To offer or sell weapons, banned articles, items, objects or garments within the area of applicability of the stadium rules and regulations; or in any other manner let such items be offered to or accepted by other people;

b)    To climb, or to climb over, structures and fixtures not intended for general use, especially facades, fences, walls, enclosures of the playing area, barriers, lighting systems, camera platforms, trees, any type of planted area, all types of masts and roofs, as well as their anchoring systems and supports;

c)    To climb on seats or to mechanically manipulate them;

d)    To disseminate propaganda materials and slogans with glorifying violence, discriminating, racist, xenophobic or radical content, especially expressing a right-wing extremist and discriminatory attitude through right-wing extremist materials, right-wing extremist slogans or gestures;

e)    To enter areas which are not permitted for visitors (for example, the football pitch, inner rooms and function rooms);

f)     To throw any kind of object;

g)    To ignite fires, fireworks, rockets, Bengal fireworks, smoke powder, smoke bombs, flares and to burn or launch other pyrotechnic articles;

h)   To sell goods and entrance tickets, to distribute printed materials and to organize collections without the necessary business approval and permission of “An der Alten Försterei” Stadionbetriebs AG;

i)     To mark, paint, attach, scratch, burn, or in any other way damage structural installations, facilities, trees or pathways;

j)      To use banners, flags and banderoles, which hinder the view of other visitors, or which obscure unlawful acts;

k)    To relieve oneself or cause soiling outside toilets, or to pollute the stadium in any other way, especially by throwing things away (waste, packaging, empty containers, etc.);

l)     To set up, attach, or store objects;

m)  To enter the An der Alten Försterei stadium in a guise, which may prevent the establishment of identity;

n)   To use sound and visual recordings made within the grounds of the stadium for commercial purposes without permission;

o)   To spend the night in the stadium.

(3)  It is forbidden to constrict traffic areas, pathways and especially emergency escape routes. Sales stands with previously obtained permission from the “An der Alten Försterei” Stadionbetriebs AG are to be set up in the established sales areas. Green spaces are to be kept free from obstruction.

(4)   In order to maintain public order, it is forbidden to form mobs within the enclosed areas of the An der Alten Försterei stadium. A mob exists when several people by their common action show the will to disturb the public order.

(1)    People who enter and use the stadium do so at their own risk.

(2)    Neither “An der Alten Försterei” Stadionbetriebs AG, nor the respective event organizer, will be liable for personal injuries and property damage caused by third-parties.

(3)    The stadium operating company or the respective event organizer will be liable for damages in accordance with the statutory provisions, if culpable of damage to life, body or health brought about through intent or gross negligence of its legal representatives or vicarious agents.

(4)    In accordance with the German Product Liability Act liability is unlimited.

(5)   Accidents or injuries must be reported immediately to the stadium operating company or the respective event organizer.

(1) Visitors to events in the An der Alten Försterei stadium grant to the respective event organizer an irrevocable, perpetual and worldwide permission and right to make sound and video recordings without being obligated to pay remuneration. The sound and video recordings may also be created, reproduced and transmitted by third parties and can be exploited in current and future forms of media.

(1)    With the purchase of an entrance ticket or other access authorization, the visitor recognizes the stadium rules and regulations of “An der Alten Försterei” Stadionbetriebs AG to be binding.

(2)    Visitors who are turned away or expelled have no claim to a refund of the entrance fee, if they either deliberately, or through negligence, infringe the stadium rules and regulations. Likewise, people who apparently appear to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs are not entitled to claim a reimbursement.

(3)    People who intentionally or negligently violate the stadium rules and regulations during the course of an event can be expressly banned locally or nationally from stadiums within the Federal Republic of Germany, subject to proportionality.

(4)    A criminal complaint may be lodged and a demand for prosecution may be filed against visitors who commit a criminal offence or misdemeanour within the grounds of the stadium.

(5)    If claims for damages and/or financial penalties are brought against the stadium operating company or the respective event organizer, by a third-party as a result of the disorderly conduct of the visitor, action will be taken to redress these claims by way of recovery.

(6)    Illegally carried items will be safeguarded for as long as necessary for a criminal investigation. Otherwise the visitor who brought the illegally carried item has the choice to either leave the stadium with the item, or to renounce ownership of the item and hand it over to the security staff and stewards for destruction. In the latter case, a claim for the return of the item will fail.

(7)   The rights of “An der Alten Försterei” Stadionbetriebs AG to determine who shall be allowed or denied access remain unaffected.

(1) The stadium rules and regulations enter into force on 01/07/2009.
(2) The stadium rules and regulations can be amended by the operator at any time and without giving any reason. Each new issue (version) of the stadium rules and regulations automatically replaces the previous issue which then becomes annulled.