Hallenstadion
An 11,200-seat arena designed by Bruno Giacometti in 1939 that has hosted ice hockey world championships, a Federer–Nadal charity match, and a Dalai Lama lecture series — Zürich's most unlikely all-rounder.
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Open since November 1939, this Oerlikon venue has reinvented itself across nine decades without losing its character. The Zürcher 6-Tagerennen cycling race has run here since 1954 on a wooden oval. ZSC Lions played ice hockey inside for 72 years. FIFA held two congresses in the same hall. A 2004–05 renovation modernised it without erasing the Giacometti bones.
What to look for
- The oval of wooden boards installed for the Zürcher 6-Tagerennen, the six-day cycling race that has circled this floor since 1954
- Bruno Giacometti's 1939 structural shell — the building opened the same year as the first bicycle races held inside it
- The 11,200-seat bowl, surprisingly intimate for a venue that has hosted Ice Hockey World Championships and two FIFA Congresses
Located in the Oerlikon quarter of northern Zürich; check the calendar before making the trip as programming varies.
Hallenstadion is one of 17 sights worth the detour in Zurich, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Zurich pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Zurich
- LetzigrundOn this track, on 21 June 1960, Armin Hary became the first person in history to run 100 metres in 10.0 seconds.
- Zürich HauptbahnhofSwitzerland's largest station runs 2,915 trains a day — and a river flows through it in a tunnel, with tracks both above and below.
- GrossmünsterThe church where Zwingli launched the Swiss-German Reformation in 1520 — and then his followers stripped out the organ and every statue to prove the point.
- Zürich Opera HouseThe first electrically lit opera house in Europe — built in 16 months, nearly razed by street riots, and winner of Opera Company of the Year at the 2014 International Opera Awards.
- Cabaret VoltaireHugo Ball borrowed a back room on Spiegelgasse in February 1916 and accidentally invented Dada — Lenin was renting a flat fourteen doors up the same street.
- Kunsthaus ZürichTwo buildings on opposite sides of Heimplatz, linked underground, housing one of Switzerland's most important art collections — the 2021 David Chipperfield sandstone block alone added over 80% more floor space.