The European football championships will be shown on channels from June 14 to July 14.
BERLIN. Summer has warmed Northern Germany and the tourists visiting there for a few weeks already. In the surroundings of the capital’s most famous landmark, the Brandenburg Gate, tourists and locals bounced between construction site fences.
– The construction site is huge. I would hope that the work here will be completed soon, comments a Berlin resident on a business trip Yuval Sigdon To .
A total of 24,000 square meters of artificial turf has been laid on the Straße des 17. Juni roadway, which starts behind the Brandenburg Gate. Until the middle of July, the lawn serves as the audience area for the European Championship, where competition tourists can gather for match viewing events and concerts.
A total of around 2.5 million tourists are expected in Berlin during the European Championships. For a city of around 3.6 million inhabitants, the number is significant. There are a total of 10 competition cities, but Berlin sees the most games. Six of the 51 games of the Games will be played at the capital’s Olympic Stadium.
The budget swelled by a third
Originally, the city of Berlin had calculated that the European Championships would cost it 64 million euros. However, the final budget is 83.7 million euros – more than a third more.
The amount is significant when you consider that usually the city’s public budget is slightly less than 40 million euros per year. The EM costs are spread over the years 2019–2024 and include, for example, procurements for the police and fire brigade.
Costs have risen above all as a result of pandemic bankruptcies and labor flight in the events industry. The inflation that plagues Europe in general also weighs on the price tag of the European Championships.
The cost issue is still for Berlin and its interior minister To Iris Spranger embarrassing. In October, his Secretary of State for Sport Nicola Böcker-Giannini got a shoe, according to media speculation, precisely because of the EC competition budget that was exceeded.
Income of 50 million euros from one night
From the press conference, Spranger still assures that the European Championships are profitable for the city. The Olympic Stadium and other sports venues have been renovated, new equipment has been bought for the security authorities and public transport has been increased.
The EC final will be played in Berlin on July 14. According to the Minister of the Interior, the final night alone brings about 50 million euros in revenue to the Berlin hotel and restaurant industry.
– Ultimately, part of the income returns to the city in the form of tax income, Spranger explains.
The city’s marketing organization VisitBerlin also believes that organizing the Games will attract more visitors to Berlin even after the Games. The competitions offer an opportunity for long-term image enhancement.
– The value of the images created in Berlin during the Games cannot be measured in money, says the VisitBerlin spokesman Christian Tanzler.
Extensive security arrangements
In recent weeks, the German press has been more interested in the security arrangements of the games and possible security threats than the budget and tax revenues.
The terrorist attack on the Christmas market in Berlin in December 2016, when 13 people died after a truck drove into the crowd, is quite fresh in our memory.
The Berlin police say they have prepared for the games to the extent necessary. According to the police, the manifesto published by the Islamist terrorist group ISPK in early May, which calls for, among other things, attacks during the Berlin Games, does not give rise to concrete security concerns.
– We treat similar declarations with the necessary seriousness. We cooperate with the German criminal police and security services, Berlin police chief Barbara Slowik tells the press.
The authorities assure that the bags of visitors will be checked in the public areas and that there will be road barriers around the areas. The public mile behind the Brandenburg Gate and the public area in front of the German Parliament, or Reichstag, are also occupied by plainclothes police officers who monitor the crowd for wanted persons.
The Berlin police are also using drones for the first time as part of the security arrangements for a major event.
The townspeople themselves take a relaxed approach to the Games. Football fans are waiting for the drug associated with the games, others are planning to tour the downtown event area during the game weeks.
– There are always safety risks in events of this size. The last time everything went smoothly during the World Cup in 2006, so I trust that this will be the case this time as well, says the Berliner, who organizes city tours Michael Rost.
Like many other passers-by, Rost has stopped to photograph the construction work in the center. He can’t wait to cheer on Germany’s Die Mannschaft in June.
The opening game of the European Championship between Germany and Scotland will be played on June 14 in Munich. The semi-finals are on 9.7. and 10.7. and the final on 14.7. at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin.