Zielbau Arena

The sign on the front says EISHALLE DEUTWEG, which tells you it is an ice rink. The place was not built on empty land; it sits where a gravel depot used to be, and the ground had to be cleaned before a single beam went up.

There is no roof inside because the whole thing is under one roof. The seats are red, and they fill the small spaces along the sides. This is not a theatre for music, even though bands have played here. It is a place for hockey.

EHC Winterthur plays its games here. The Swiss League is the level where they compete, just below the top flight. You do not need to travel far to see them. The arena replaced an older rink that was open to the sky, which made winter practice difficult. The new building closed that gap. It opened in late 2002 after four public votes approved the project over twenty years.

The name changed for a while when a construction company put its logo on the walls, but it went back to Eishalle Deutweg when the contract ended. The capacity is small, large enough for a local crowd but not a festival. When concerts happen, the hockey nets are packed away. The lights go up for the bands. Most nights, though, it belongs to the players on the ice.