DURING their German Cup game against Borussia Dortmund last week, Werder Bremen supporters continued protests against the renaming of their Weserstadion home.

Since July last year the stadium has been officially renamed the Wohninvest Weserstadion to include the sponsor, a property company based in Fellbach near Stuttgart.

Fans unfurled a large banner in the Ostkurve which read: “Weserstadion,” with the words “do you still recognise them all,” underneath.

Smaller banners were then displayed around the stadium listing the traditional names of German stadia, including Cologne’s Müngersdorfer Stadion; Bielefelder Alm; Waldstadion, Frankfurt; Dreisamstadion, Freiburg; and Niedersachsenstadion, Hannover.

All of these stadiums have undergone name changes to include a sponsor, with Union Berlin’s Stadion An der Alten Forsterei now the only club-owned Bundesliga ground without a sponsor name in its title.

Situated on the banks of the Weser river, the Weserstadion is one of the most picturesque stadiums in German football, and supporters want it to remain part of the club’s culture and not be sold to the highest bidder.

Supporter groups are also concerned with the type of company involved in the sponsorship of their stadium name, and in a joint statement last June, groups of Werder Bremen ultras voiced their concerns in an open letter.

“Like many companies in the real-estate industry, Wohninvest stands for one thing above all: inequality and displacement,” it read. 

“They play a major role in the socio-economic and structural change in urban areas and are responsible for driving out entire groups of people.

“Every year, people lose their homes because they can no longer afford them due to high rents, and are forced to move away.

“Where the single mother with two children used to have a place to stay, now lives the young banker who earns lots of money.

“Where there are empty apartments that could be made available to house refugees, new offices are created for businesses.”

The recent protests are a continuation of those which started last year when hundreds of fans marched through Bremen with a “forever Weserstadion” banner.

They look set to continue until the current sponsor is removed, or a compromise is met.

“A historic club such as SV Werder must have its own stadium and its name which has been associated with the club for over 90 years,” continued the letter.

“The name ‘Weserstadion’ is part of our club’s identity. It connects Werder fans young and old to emotional moments, friendship, and great matches experienced together.”