Essen - 
Stadion an der Hafenstrasse

Rot-Weiss Essen - 1.FC Saarbrücken 1-2

3. Liga, 26 April 2026

In Germany there are 3 levels of professional football but on the third level I never visited a match before despite that there are several clubs near the border in Nordrhein Westfalen. On a sunny Sunday I went with my son to Essen. First we visited the cosy village of Kettwig which is also part of Essen and situated near the Ruhr and has nice traditional half timbered German houses. Afterwards we went to the Zollverein where we parked our car and walked around this former mining area. By tram we went to the City center which was very desperate. So we decided to walk already to the stadium (3,5 km). At the Hafenstübchen near the stadium at the Hafenstrasse it was crowded with people for a bottle of beer and a bratwurst. You just cannot go to football in Germany without both. The stadium of this traditionsverein was sold out in a good atmosphere since RWE was second in the league heading for promotion. But it was not their day. After a good start they played a bad first half and in the second half they tried everything they could but did not succeed to score again. The guests could sing what everyone sings if Essen loses: "Rot-Weissen Essen, f*cken und Vergessen!" After the match we took the train full of dissappointed fans back to the Zollverein station for our car.

Tickets:

I bought the tickets via the website of Rot-Weiss Essen.