Knick-Ei

Knick-Ei ("dented egg") was the nickname of a sports hall located at the corner of Feldstraße and Bahnhofstraße in the city of Halstenbek, located in Pinneberg county in the state of Schleswig-Holstein in northern Germany. The nickname refers to the hall's dome-shaped roof which collapsed twice during construction. The building's official name was "Sporthalle Feldstraße".

Design, planning and construction

In 1992, the city council of Halstenbek decided to spend 5 million Deutschmarks on the construction of a new sports hall on a property on Feldstraße formerly occupied by a tree nursery. In 1993, the council approved the design submitted by architects Poitiers & Partner from Hamburg. Architect André Poitiers' design featured an underground field under an oval glass dome, with locker rooms and equipment rooms also located below the ground and around the field. During the planning, the estimated cost already rose to more than 12 million Deutschmarks. Construction finally began in September 1995. In 1996, the estimated total cost was 15.6 million Deutschmarks.

1997: The first collapse

In the early morning hours of February 5, 1997, the partially completed dome collapsed during severe weather. The girders supplying the dome damaged the scaffolding located below. As the collapse occurred during the night, fortunately no one was hurt. In the aftermath of the collapse, experts determined that the collapse was only due to the severe weather...
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