Buy Union Berlin vs Borussia Dortmund tickets for the 2026/27 season and you are chasing one of the hardest seats in German football. Kickoff is 15:30 local time on Saturday 17 October 2026 at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei in Köpenick, the standard Saturday afternoon Bundesliga slot. Union host. Dortmund arrive at a ground that holds 22,012 and sold out effectively every league fixture last season.
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The problem is arithmetic, not popularity. Union Berlin average within a few dozen of capacity every week, and roughly half the ground is already committed to season ticket holders before a fixture list is even published. Add a visiting allocation for a club whose supporters fill away ends across the continent and what is left for everyone else is small.
There is a second reason to pay attention to this season in particular. The Alte Försterei is heading for redevelopment, with the club having confirmed it will move out to the Olympiastadion while the work is done. Nobody should treat a construction timetable as a promise, but the number of remaining Bundesliga afternoons in this ground as it currently stands is finite and shrinking.
Start with the ground itself. The Alte Försterei holds 22,012, of which 18,395 are standing places and only 3,617 are seats. That makes it one of the smallest venues in the division and by some distance the most terrace-heavy. Almost every other Bundesliga club can absorb a demand spike by opening more seated inventory. Union cannot.
Borussia Dortmund then apply the second squeeze. They take their full visiting allocation of roughly 2,200 places for every away trip and could sell many times that, and Berlin is an easy weekend for supporters travelling from the Ruhr or from abroad. Whatever the league table says in October, this is the fixture Union supporters circle first.
The occupancy numbers make the point better than any adjective can. Across seventeen home league matches last season Union averaged 21,996 spectators against a capacity of 22,012. That is not a club with a strong home following. That is a club operating at the absolute ceiling of its ground, every single week, regardless of opponent.
Layer the fixture's own history on top and the demand picture is complete. Union have won four of their seven Bundesliga home meetings with Dortmund and there has never been a draw between the sides. For a small club that has spent seven seasons proving it belongs, this is the measuring stick.
Through club routes, almost certainly not. Union's distribution runs in a strict order and non-members sit at the bottom of it. Season ticket holders take around 11,000 places, close to half the ground. The visiting allocation accounts for roughly another 2,200. What remains from a 22,012 capacity is a few thousand places for everybody else.
Those remaining places do not go on open sale in the way a Premier League club would sell them. They are distributed by ballot among club members, with membership costing around £100 equivalent per year, and tickets typically release three to four weeks before a fixture. For an ordinary league match that ballot is competitive. For Dortmund at home it is heavily oversubscribed, and a successful ballot entry is closer to good fortune than to planning.
Season tickets are the other route and they are effectively closed. Published 2026/27 pricing puts a standing season ticket at roughly £205 to £235 equivalent for a full-paying adult, with the most expensive seated positions reaching several times that. At those prices, with that atmosphere, almost nobody surrenders one. The waiting position is measured in years.
Dortmund supporters face their own version of the same wall. The away allocation is distributed through the club's own system, weighted towards members and regular travellers who have accumulated priority across a season, and it is comfortably oversubscribed for a fixture of this size. There is no general sale into sector 5.
That is why the verified resale market matters here more than at almost any other Bundesliga ground. Places returned by season ticket holders and members whose plans change, along with business seat inventory, all surface in one place and are priced by demand rather than by how long somebody has held a card.
Five factors set the number on this fixture. Supply comes first and it dominates everything else: 22,012 places against a demand pool many times larger. Seat type is second, and at this ground the choice between a standing place and one of the 3,617 seats changes both the price and the entire character of the afternoon.
The opponent is the third driver. Dortmund away fixtures price above the Union average across the board. Timing is fourth, since a Saturday 15:30 kickoff in October suits weekend travel from anywhere in Europe. Hospitality tier is fifth, and Union's premium provision is genuinely small, which pushes those products higher than the stadium's modest scale would suggest.
| Ticket Type | Resale Price Range | Best For | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standing terrace, home sectors | £85 – £150 | Supporters who came for the noise | The lowest-priced way in and the reason this ground has its reputation. Standing throughout, no allocated place |
| Standing, corner and elevated positions | £110 – £180 | First-time visitors who want a clearer view | Still terrace, but with a better angle on the far goal and easier movement in and out |
| Seated, wide positions | £160 – £270 | Buyers who want a guaranteed place to sit | Only 3,617 seats exist in the whole ground, so any seated listing clears quickly |
| Seated, central | £240 – £400+ | Supporters wanting the halfway line | The clearest sightlines in the stadium and the most contested inventory on the market |
| Business seats and boxes | £450 – £900+ | Corporate guests and milestone trips | A very limited pool. Includes catering, indoor access and a served matchday |
Prices reflect typical resale ranges and may change as demand and availability shift closer to the match.
This ground works differently from anywhere else in the Bundesliga and it pays to understand the layout before choosing. The stadium is arranged in five sectors. Sector 1 is the main stand and holds every seat in the building. Sectors 2, 3 and 4 are the home standing terraces that wrap around the rest of the pitch. Sector 5 is the visiting section.
Union supporters largely rebuilt this stadium themselves with volunteer labour in 2008 and 2009, and it shows in how tightly the terraces sit against the pitch. There is no running track, no wide corporate ring and very little distance between the crowd and the play. That closeness is the entire appeal, and it is also why choosing standing or seated matters more here than at a larger ground.
| Area | What It Suits | Pricing Bracket | Guidance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sector 2, behind the goal | Supporters who want the full experience | Lower to mid | The heart of the home support and where the singing starts. Standing only, unreserved and packed from well before kickoff |
| Sectors 3 and 4, terrace | Standing without the crush | Lower to mid | The same atmosphere with more room to move. A better first visit than going straight into sector 2 |
| Sector 1, wide seated | Anyone who needs a seat | Mid to upper | A guaranteed place with a decent angle. Worth taking if standing for two hours is not realistic for you |
| Sector 1, central seated | Buyers wanting the halfway line | Upper | The clearest read of the game in the ground, directly opposite the terraces so you see the choreography properly |
| Business seats and boxes | Corporate and comfort buyers | Premium | Fewer than 2,000 business places exist in total, of which a small number sit inside private boxes. Indoor access and catering included |
| Sector 5 | Dortmund supporters on the club allocation | Lower to mid | The designated visiting section, roughly 2,200 places with segregated entry. Visiting colours belong here and nowhere else |
If you are travelling as a neutral, sector 1 is the sensible answer. You get a seat, a clean view and a full sight of both terraces without landing inside either. If you want the atmosphere this ground is known for and you are comfortable standing, sectors 3 and 4 give you most of it with more space than the area behind the goal. Anyone outside sector 5 should leave visiting colours behind, since German stewarding on this point is consistent and firm.
Hospitality here is nothing like the corporate provision at a Signal Iduna Park or an Allianz Arena, and that is worth knowing before you book. The whole ground contains fewer than 2,000 business places, with a small number of private boxes among them. The upside is that these are genuinely scarce products at an intimate stadium rather than another tier in a large bowl.
| Hospitality Option | Typical Buyer | Main Appeal |
|---|---|---|
| Business seats | Solo travellers and couples upgrading | A padded central seat in the main stand with indoor access before the match and at half-time |
| Box places | Small groups and corporate hosts | A private room with catering brought to you and no queueing at any stage of the afternoon |
| Lounge packages with catering | Groups marking a trip | Food and drink indoors before kickoff, then a reserved seat with the clearest angle in the ground |
| Full hosted packages | Buyers wanting the complete version | Looked after from arrival to final whistle, which matters at a ground with very limited matchday parking |
Two practical notes. Hospitality here requires arriving well before kickoff, usually ninety minutes or more, which is not a problem given the gates open two hours out anyway. And because the premium pool is so small, these products appear and disappear far faster than at a larger club. If a hospitality listing suits you, hesitation is expensive.
The other argument for a package at this particular ground is logistical. Matchday parking around Köpenick is severely limited and the club actively discourages driving. A hosted arrangement removes the part of the day that most visitors underestimate.
German ticketing has moved heavily to digital, and entry at the Alte Försterei is barcode-based. Read the delivery method on the listing before you buy, because it determines what you need in hand on the day.
| Delivery Type | What to Check |
|---|---|
| Mobile transfer | Confirm which app or wallet the place lands in and how much notice you get. German clubs often release inside the final week |
| Electronic ticket by email | Check whether it must be printed or scans from a phone. Save an offline copy before travelling, since the turnstile reads a barcode |
| Collection in Berlin | Note the collection point, its opening window and the identification required. Plan it for the day before, not matchday morning |
| Courier or in-person handover | Confirm the address works for your travel dates. A hotel is usually safer than a home address on a short trip |
Three details save real trouble at this ground specifically. Gates open two hours before kickoff and the terraces fill early, so arriving late costs you your spot rather than just your seat. Bags and rucksacks larger than A4 are not allowed inside, with paid storage available at the stadium. Prams are not permitted either. Carry photo identification and a charged phone with a printed or screenshotted backup.
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Step1
Open the fixture listing
Start from the listing for this match rather than a general search. It shows only what is available for 17 October in Köpenick, which keeps every comparison like for like.
Step2
Set up your account first
You can create an account in under a minute. On a fixture with this little inventory, having details already saved is the difference between securing a listing and watching it go.
Step3
Decide standing or seated
This is the first real choice here and it is a big one. More than eight in ten places are terrace, unreserved and standing for the full match. Settle that question before you compare prices.
Step4
Filter by quantity
Set the exact number you need. Listings sell in fixed blocks, so a pair taken out of a group of four is often unavailable. This strips out everything that cannot work for your party.
Step5
Read the listing notes properly
The step most buyers skip. Notes carry the sector, whether places are together, the delivery method and any seller conditions. At a ground with unreserved terracing this matters more than usual.
Step6
Check the total before confirming
Review the full amount including fees and delivery. Comparing headline prices misleads when one listing carries a courier charge and another delivers to your phone at no cost.
Step7
Complete secure payment
Pay through the encrypted checkout and keep the confirmation email. It holds the order reference that any query between now and matchday will run on.
Step8
Follow the order through to delivery
Use track order to watch the status update as places are confirmed and released. German clubs commonly release digital tickets late, so a quiet tracker weeks out is normal rather than a warning.
The Alte Försterei sits in the south-east of Berlin, in woodland beside the Wuhlheide. It is one of the more pleasant approaches to any stadium in Europe. From Berlin-Köpenick station it is roughly a fifteen minute walk through the trees. Public transport is the only sensible option, since matchday parking is minimal and the club says so plainly. Berlin's airports and mainline stations connect to Köpenick without difficulty, and a 15:30 kickoff means a same-weekend trip works from almost anywhere in Europe.
Overseas buyers should match the delivery method to their travel plan rather than treating it as an afterthought. Mobile and electronic delivery suit anyone arriving on matchday, since nothing needs collecting in person. Collection options need you in Berlin during working hours, which usually means the day before. If you need places together, confirm it at purchase rather than assuming a listing for four is four adjacent spots, which on an unreserved terrace means something different anyway. Bundesliga kickoff times are set well in advance but can still move for broadcast, so flexible travel is worth the small premium.
Union and Dortmund had never met in the league until August 2019. Union came up as second division champions and were widely expected to go straight back down. Their third Bundesliga match ever was Dortmund at home, and they won it 3-1. It was Union's first top-flight home victory, it was against a side that had finished second the season before, and it set the tone for everything that followed.
What has developed since is not a rivalry in the traditional sense. It is something more interesting: a fixture in which the stadium itself is the variable. Dortmund have been ruthless against Union in the Ruhr, but in Köpenick the record reads four wins to Union from seven league meetings, with no draw ever recorded between the clubs. A ground rebuilt by its own supporters with volunteer labour, holding a fraction of the crowd Dortmund play in front of at home, has repeatedly been the difference.
What makes this one worth travelling for is the setting as much as the football. There is no other Bundesliga fixture where a club of Dortmund's size walks into a 22,000-capacity ground with terracing on three sides and no distance between the crowd and the pitch. With redevelopment ahead and a temporary move across the city planned, the number of chances left to see this particular version of the fixture is limited.
The figures below cover Bundesliga meetings at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei with Union Berlin as hosts, from the first in 2019 to the most recent in 2026.
| Metric | Total |
|---|---|
| Matches played | 7 |
| Union Berlin wins | 4 |
| Borussia Dortmund wins | 3 |
| Draws | 0 |
| Union Berlin goals | 9 |
| Borussia Dortmund goals | 11 |
| Biggest Union Berlin win | 3-1 |
| Biggest Borussia Dortmund win | 0-3 |
| First Bundesliga meeting here | 31 August 2019 |
| Most recent meeting here | 24 January 2026 |
Figures calculated from the verified match-by-match record below and cross-checked against the German federation's own match database and independent statistical archives.
All seven Bundesliga fixtures at the Alte Försterei with Union hosting, newest first. Scores are shown with Union listed first.
| Date | Score |
|---|---|
| 24 Jan 2026 | 0-3 |
| 5 Oct 2024 | 2-1 |
| 2 Mar 2024 | 0-2 |
| 16 Oct 2022 | 2-0 |
| 13 Feb 2022 | 0-3 |
| 18 Dec 2020 | 2-1 |
| 31 Aug 2019 | 3-1 |
Every score above is verified against at least two independent sources. The table covers league fixtures only. The clubs have also met twice in the domestic cup, both times in Dortmund, so neither falls within this ground's record.
Not to buy on a marketplace. Club distribution runs through season ticket holders first and then a members' ballot, but places released by those holders are open to anyone on resale.
Standing places on the terraces are unreserved, so you choose your spot on arrival and stay on your feet throughout. Only the main stand has actual seats, and there are just over 3,600 of them.
Visiting supporters are housed in sector 5, with segregated entry and around 2,200 places. Visiting colours should not be worn anywhere else in the ground.
Bags and rucksacks larger than A4 are refused at the turnstiles, with paid storage available on site. Prams are not permitted and gates open two hours before kickoff.
In the main stand, yes, where listings state the seats are consecutive. On the terraces places are unreserved, so a group buys entry to the same sector and then stands together by arriving early.
Sources: the German federation's official match database and fussballdaten.de for head-to-head results and dates; worldfootball and ESPN match records for independent verification of scores, dates and attendances; 1. FC Union Berlin official visitor and ticketing information for sector layout, gate times, bag policy and season ticket detail; published stadium references for capacity and the seated and standing split; German regional reporting for the stadium redevelopment timetable.