Hardturm Stadium Site
A 1954 World Cup pitch in Kreis 5 — demolished, redevelopment stalled, memory intact.
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Grasshopper Club Zürich played here from 1929, on land gifted to the club free of charge by Walter Schoeller. The stadium hosted the 1954 FIFA World Cup, eventually expanded to 38,000 seats for Grasshopper's centenary in 1986, then closed in September 2007. Demolition began December 2008. The replacement, Stadion Zürich, remains unbuilt — leaving an empty lot as the only trace of nearly 80 years of Zürich football.
What to look for
- The vacant Kreis 5 plot where the 27,500-seat original stadium opened in 1929
- Any hoardings or signage for the long-stalled Stadion Zürich project
- The scale of the site — capacity swung from 27,500 at opening to 38,000 at peak, down to 17,666 at closure
Nothing stands on the site; it is a stalled development ground in Kreis 5. Grasshoppers now play at Letzigrund, a short distance away.
Hardturm Stadium Site 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.