"Coolest ground"

A Roman poet once said that all people need to keep them happy is "bread and circus". At The Millerntor you will definitely be entertained and finding something to eat is never a problem. The only problem at St Pauli is trying to concentrate on the game. While not distracted by the massive World War 2 bunker standing next to the ground there's just so much else going on around you. The DOM fair is in town again and the large Ferris wheel is another imposing backdrop to the ground. Straight away you notice that this club's fans are very interesting; artists and musicians sit alongside ordinary working class fans. Very bohemian.

During the pre-match beer and wurst there's suddenly a loud bell being sounded which is greeted with spontaneous applause and cheering. "What's that?" I asked. "Oh, the teams are coming out." was the reply. St Pauli and the day's opponents walk out to the long sombre intro of Hell's Bells by AC/DC. Sehr cool.

My first trip to the ground was for a league match two seasons ago against Chemnitz from the eastern part of Germany. Their fans have a slight reputation for their hard line right wing views and this became quite apparent. German football fans seem to be a lot more politically minded than I had realised. After lots of rival chanting between fans the game settles down. There was about 16,000 fans here to watch a 3rd division game. I'm told that's normal and its quite impressive as many English clubs in higher divisions don't attract that many. Chemnitz fans, maybe a little bored with football decide to light fireworks and set fire to flags causing a large cloud of white smoke to drift across the pitch and delay the game for 10 minutes.

St Pauli won the game and Chemnitz moved further towards relegation from the division. It was definitely a memorable experience and I've been back since then to see St Pauli take on local rivals HSV's second team. If you've never been, and you enjoy a match-day this is well worth a visit.

Location

It has 2 U-bahn station very nearby; St Pauli & Feldstrasse on the U2 line.

Atmosphere

What can I say. The atmosphere here is addictive. Its hard to concentrate on the game!

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