page_title: De Kuip
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: De Kuip / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Panorama Kuip Cupfinal PEC Zwolle-Ajax (2014) Nederlands: Panorama Kuip Bekerfinale PEC Zwolle-Ajax (2014)
context_page_description: Stadion Feijenoord, more commonly known by its nickname De Kuip, is a stadium in Rotterdam, Netherlands. It was completed in 1937. The name is derived from the Feijenoord district in Rotterdam, and from the club with the same name.
  The stadium's original capacity was 64,000. In 1949, it was expanded to 69,000, and in 1994 it was converted to a 51,117-seat all-seater. In 1999, a significant amount of restoration and interior work took place at the stadium prior to its use as a venue in the UEFA Euro 2000 tournament, although capacity was largely unaffected.
context_section_description: Leen van Zandvliet, Feyenoord's president in the 1930s, came up with the idea of building an entirely new stadium, unlike any other on the continent, with two free hanging tiers and no obstacles blocking the view. Contemporary examples were Highbury, where the West and East stands had been recently built as a double deck, and Yankee Stadium in New York. Johannes Brinkman and Leendert van der Vlugt, the famous designers of the van Nelle factories in Rotterdam were asked to design a stadium out of glass, concrete and steel, cheap materials at that time. In fact, De Kuip acted as an example for many of the greatest stadia we know today, e.g. Camp Nou. The stadium was co-financed by the billionaire Daniël George van Beuningen, who made his fortune in World War I, exporting coal from Germany to Britain through neutral Netherlands.
  In World War II, the stadium was nearly torn down for scrap by German occupiers. After the war, the stadium's capacity was expanded in 1949; stadium lights were added in 1958. On 29 October 1991, De Kuip was named as being one of Rotterdam's monuments. In 1994 the stadium was extensively renovated to its present form: It became all-seater, and the roof was extended to cover all the seats. An extra building was constructed for commercial use by Feyenoord, it also houses a restaurant and a museum, The Home of History.
  As of January 2007, the stadium can be found in 3D format on Google Earth, and partially on Google Maps, via street view.
caption: De Kuip before the KNVB Cup final in April 2014
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