Sportplatz Papenloh

The ground known as Sportplatz Papenloh was built by the members of Westfalia Rhynern themselves after buying land from the Catholic parish of St. Regina Rhynern in 1939. It was a project of Eigenhilfe —self-help—bolstered only by a small loan and municipal support. The war damaged the site, but the club rebuilt it, opening the pitch officially in August 1950. For decades, it was simply the club’s home, a patch of natural grass in Hamm, Germany.

What distinguishes this place is not its size—though it once held up to 5,000—but its fate. In September 2022, the club moved to a new facility at Tünner Berg, initially called Stadion Tünner Berg, then Westfalia-Sportpark, and currently Kümpel+Hellmeister-Arena. The old Sportplatz Papenloh was not saved as a heritage site; it was dismantled and is being reforested as a local recreation area. The new facility cost approximately 2.2 million Euros, with the City of Hamm contributing 1.2 million Euros and the club covering the rest. The new stadium has a capacity of 1,500 spectators (including 600 seated places).

Before the trees took over the concrete, the pitch hosted memorable moments. On August 23, 2026, it saw a DFB-Pokal match against Dynamo Dresden on August 23, 2026 (which ended 0:6, attended by Campino), a friendly against Borussia Dortmund on July 12, 2023 (won 7:0 by BVB in front of ~2,500 spectators), and a local derby against Hammer SV on October 3, 2021 (won 5:2 by Westfalia Rhynern in front of 908 spectators). The venue had undergone several name changes due to sponsorship: it was known as Sportplatz Papenloh until 2016, then Helmut-Voss-Arena until 2019, and VIACTIV-ARENA am Papenloh until 2021.