Yayla-Arena

Above the crowd, the steel girders carry the lighting rigs, and advertisements for Krefelder Bau-GmbH run along the metalwork. This is the structure of the place: a box built for hockey, now hosting other things as well.

The surface is not grass but ice, a sheet of white that covers the concrete base. In the summer months, the ice disappears and insulating floor plates take its place, turning the rink into a flat floor for concerts or exhibitions. The venue opened in 2004 as the KönigPALAST, a name linked to a local brewery, before becoming the Yayla-Arena in 2019 after a sponsorship deal with a Turkish firm. The capacity sits at just over 8,000 for matches, a number that has not changed since the doors first opened.

The Krefeld Pinguine have played their home games here since the beginning, a team that has seen better days in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. The arena also hosts the handball side HSG Krefeld Niederrhein, though the hockey crowd remains the steady core.

A concert by Sarah Connor marked the opening night, showing that the building was always meant to be more than a sports hall. The architectural design came from RKW Rhode Kellermann Wawrowsky, and the construction was carried out by HOCHTIEF Construction AG. The investor, Krefelder Bau GmbH, holds the deed to the building today.