:: Berlin - Olympiastadion

The stadium which hosted the 1936 Olympics has been revamped at huge expense and will host six World Cup matches including the finals.

Although those Olympics were used as a propaganda tool by the then Nazi regime, today the Olympiastadion recognises the more noble aspects of the 1936 Games.

US sprinter Jesse Owens won four gold medals in the stadium and his feats are recognised by the fact that one of the avenues and a VIP bar inside the stadium bear his name.

The stadium, which is home to Hertha Berlin in the Bundesliga, boasts a capacity of 76,000, making it one of the biggest football grounds in Europe.

Reconstruction of the stadium was completed in mid-2004. It was a complex project, in part due to the listed status of the building itself.

The stadium's oval-shaped roof is interrupted only by the listed marathon gate, which bears the Olympic rings.




:: Cologne - RheinEnergieStadion

Cologne's stadium was completely rebuilt in advance of the World Cup and the new 46,000-seater opened its doors with a friendly between Germany and Belgium in 2004.

Unlike some of the older stadiums which are designed to host a variety of events, the Cologne venue was designed with just one thing in mind - football.

So say hello to steeply-banked seating towering over the pitch, with less than eight metres between the front row and the players pounding the touchline.

The atmosphere should be electric as the locals make up for the fact that their city was overlooked when West Germany last hosted the Cup in 1974.



:: Dortmund - Westfalenstadion

Home to Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund, the Westfalenstadion is the biggest in Germany with a capacity for club matches of 82,500.

The club averaged a remarkable 77,000 spectators per match in 2004-05. Those figures won't be repeated at the World Cup with a requirement that stadiums be all seater reducing capacity to 67,000.

In recent years the stadium has undergone a series of renovations. Late in 2003 work to join the ground's four grandstands was completed then in 2005 work was undertaken to add backrests to seats in the lower tier and add a VIP section.

Patrons at Westfalenstadion are well catered for thanks to an amazing 3,500 places to buy food wiithin the stadium.

A distinctive feature of the stadium are its eight 62-metre high support pylons. Painted bright yellow, these pylons are prominent features on the city's skyline.




:: Frankfurt - Waldstadion

A brand-new stadium, Frankfurt's World Cup ground was given a dress rehearsal for action this summer when it hosted the Confederations Cup final between Brazil and Argentina in 2005.

The stadium was built on the site of the "old" Waldstadion and great care was taken not to completely erase the character of the former ground, which hosted the World Cup semi-final between West Germany and Poland in 1974, won by the hosts.

The new stadium features a soaring, translucent roof which allows natural light to pour into the ground. The steel girders and ropes used for the roof weigh a massive 2,500 tonnes.

This massive roof is put to good use, designed to collect and redirect rainwater.

An amazing 80,000 cubic metres of concrete and 12,000 tonnes of steel were used to build the new stadium.




:: Gelsenkirchen - AufSchalke Arena

When the AufSchalke Arena was opened in 2001 it was hailed as a benchmark for future football stadium development in Europe.

It qualified for the maximum five-star rating from UEFA with ease and was rated by European football's governing body as a six-star stadium, even though no such category officially existed.

Like Melbourne's Docklands Stadium, the AufSchalke Arena has a retractable roof. But unlike Docklands, it also has a removable playing surface, meaning the grass has access to plenty of sunlight.

The stadium holds 52,000 fans and is home to Bundesliga club Schalke 04.




:: Hamburg - AOL Arena

Home to Bundesliga club Hamburg SV, the AOL Arena is a relatively new ground having been completed in 2000.

The new ground replaced the old Volksparkstadion, famous in Germany because it was the venue when East Germany beat West Germany during the 1974 World Cup in a group also featuring Australia.

In the rebuilding phase, which took two years, the ground was rotated. The new stadium has a capacity of 55,000.

It is recognised as one of the best stadiums in Europe, having been awarded a maximum five stars from UEFA.




:: Hanover - AWD Arena

Hanover's stadium has undergone a major renovation to prepare it for World Cup action.

Among the casualties of the rebuilding phase were the four enormous 70-metre high floodlight pylons, which have been scrapped and replaced by a state of the art roof-mounted system.

The arena can hold 50,000 fans and has a high-tech free-standing roof which is designed to let ultraviolet light through to the pitch to keep the turf in perfect condition.

The original stadium dates back to 1954 and has been the home of Bundesliga side Hanover 96 since 1959.




:: Kaiserslauten - Fritz-Walter-Stadion

While some of this year's stadiums have been totally rebuilt and would be unrecognisable to fans of only 10 years ago, Kaiserslauten's Fritz-Walter has retained some of the character which speaks of a history reaching back to 1920.

The imposing stadium is situated on the town's Betzenberg Mountain - actually a small hillock despite its dramatic name - against a background of steeply-wooded hills, and has a 43,000-seat capacity.

It is the home of Germany's own 'Red Devils' - four-time national champions FC Kaiserslautern, whose last title win in 1997-98 came straight after they had been promoted to the top flight from a lower division.




:: Leipzig - Zentralstadion

Leipzig's Zentralstadion arose from the ashes of the city's old venue, which was built under the former East German Communist regime in the 1950s but had fallen into disrepair by the time of the country's unification.

The compact new stadium was built within the walls of the old facility, which was the largest venue in the country with a huge 100,000 capacity.

Bridges now connect the old walls to the covered all-seater stands in the new construction - a welcome change from the concrete terraces of old.

The new venue holds just 38,000 fans, making it one of the smaller stadia in this year's competition.




:: Munich - Allianz Arena

The southern city of Munich boasts easily the most distinctive stadium in the tournament - a circular 60,000-seater which looks like a giant tire, sheathed in translucent lozenge-shaped inflatable panels which can be lit up in a variety of colours depending on which of the city's two teams is playing there.

The ground is shared between Munich rivals Bayern and TSV 1860 and was opened last year after an official referendum of local voters.

The venue also boasts Europe's largest underground carpark with space for 10,000 Volkswagens and BMWs.

However the lighting effects are limited to changing only once every two minutes to avoid startling drivers on the nearby autobahn.




:: Nuremburg - Franken-Stadion

Nuremburg's Franken-Stadion has been rebuilt several times over the years.

There has been a venue on the site since the 1920s and the Nazis used it as a venue for Hitler Youth rallies in years leading up to World War II.

There was a major post-War makeover in the 1960s and the builders were called in again from 1987 to 1991 before the latest tranche of reconstruction measures were finished in April last year.

The current facility is the smallest World Cup stadium with a capacity of just over 36,000 and features an athletics track around the outfield.




:: Stuttgart - Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion

Stuttgart's Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion has its own place in German footballing folklore as the scene of the country's first international game following the end of World War II - a 1950 game against Switzerland.

The venue also hosted the first match played by Germany after the 1990 reunification consigned the post-Cold War split between East and West to the dustbin of history.

It was also the venue of the world athletics championships in 1993.

Seating nearly 50,000 fans, the stadium is the home of Bundesliga outfit VfB Stuttgart and features Europe's biggest video screens at 115 square metres and 11 tonnes apiece.