Sportforum Hohenschönhausen
| Place | Berlin |
| Altitude | 34 m above sea level |
| Type | Indoor, Artificial ice |
Map
Berlin is the capital of Germany, with a population of approximately 3.3 millions. See Friedenauer Sportsplatz for more information on the earliest history of speed skating in Berlin.
Until 1962 most of the speed skating competitions in the German Democratic Republic took place in Geising on a natural ice rink. However, due to bad weather, many competitions had to be cancelled. Additionally most of the successful skaters were from the Berliner clubs "SC Einheit" and "SC Dynamo", but only had a 133m-rink to practice on. Those major facts led to the decision to build a 400m ice rink in Berlin.
In 1962 the artificially frozen rink was opened and in March 1963 the first GDR-championships were held. Helga Haase and Helmut Kühnert were the gold medallists at this premiere. Until 1975 all national championships of the GDR were carried out on this venue. The last competitions were held in March 1984. After that the construction of the ice hall began. Until the collapse of GDR in 1989 speed skating in Berlin, like everything else, was split in two by the Belrin Wall. Wilmersdorf was the centre of speed skating in West-Berlin.
After the decision to build an indoor track for the speed skating events in the 1988 Olympic Winter Games, intensive work began to reconstruct the rink to an ice hall. (Parallel to that, the ice hall of Heerenveen was constructed.) The goal was to establish similar training conditions for the athletes as they would find during the Olympic Games. During the construction phase of 1985 and 1986, the roof was finished, but the sides were still open. Test competitions took place during this time period. 1987 finally brought the premiere: the first indoor 400m track of Germany was inaugurated with a World Cup competition.
The track suffered from the lack of a proper heating system. This was installed in October 1997, and immediately proved to be successful during the World Cup races in November 1997 when the first senior World Record in Sportforum was set. Before the 1998 Sprint Championships a new osmosis system was employed for the ice preparation to improve the sliding ability on the ice. Further reconstruction was done to improve the tribune conditions for the 2003 Single Distances World Championships.
In 1955 Sportclub Dynamo Berlin was founded in former East-Berlin. During its history it would be one of the most successfull sports clubs in the world, with Olympic and World Champions in many sports. After the collapse of the GDR, SC Dynamo Berlin was refounded as SC Berlin in 1991. Famous speed skaters from Berlin include 6 Olympic Champions - Helga Haase (SC Dynamo Berlin), Claudia Pechstein (EHC Berlin/Eisbären Juniors Berlin), Jacqueline Börner (TSC Berlin), Uwe-Jens Mey (SC Dynamo Berlin), André Hoffmann (SC Dynamo Berlin) and Olaf Zinke (SC Dynamo Berlin); 3 World Sprint Champions - Ruth Schleiermacher (SC Dynamo Berlin), 5 times champion Monique Garbrecht-Enfeldt (TSC Berlin/EHC Berlin) and Angela Hauck-Stahnke (SC Dynamo Berlin) who is also 3 times World Junior Champion; and 3 World Junior Champions - Heike Lange (SC Dynamo Berlin), Michael Spielmann (TSC Berlin) and [5|Ulrike Adeberg (TSC Berlin).
Last updated on 22 December 2006 by Bjarte Hetland.
Tournaments
World Records
| Distance | Time | Skater | Nation | Date |
| 500 m Women Junior | 40,47 | Kyoko Shimazaki | 
| 24 November 1990 |
| 500 m Women Junior | 39,36 | Sayuri Osuga |
| 28 November 1999 |
| Allround Women Junior | 172.018 | Ulrike Adeberg | 
| 11 March 1990 |
| 1500 m Men | 1.49,81 | Ids Postma | 
| 29 November 1997 |
| 5000 m Men Junior | 6.28,27 | Sven Kramer |
| 20 November 2004 |