The access point for the players is the Marathon Gate on the western side of the stadium. A bowl, which held the Olympic flame in August 1936, is visible above the gate. The gap in direction of the bell tower was utilized for the DFB final: the capacity of the stadium was increased from 74,244 to almost 76,000 seats. In just three days, NUSSLI constructed a completely self-contained grandstand system in that gap, satisfying all DFB safety requirements.
The closure of the gap posed a challenge in terms of construction. The construction had to be planned and installed in such a way as to perfectly fit between the existing seating. The proprietary NUSSLI ST folding grandstand system was the perfect solution for that. Load strain had to be kept to a minimum around the access area as well. This problem was solved by distributing the loads onto the existing stadium structure. The grandstand above the Marathon Gate was tested separately, and satisfied the very stringent safety requirements.
NUSSLI was furthermore tasked with connecting the emergency escape handrails of the stadium with the temporary grandstand. Two NUSSLI project managers coordinated the work of 30 installers during two days of construction.
