LigaTurf Cross, LigaTurf Cross GTzero, Rekortan M and Polytan SMART at the Sports and Leisure Centre Aue

Comprehensively equipped

For centuries, mining and industry defined life in Saxony's Aue – since 2019, a district of the city Aue-Bad Schlema. In recent years, the city has actively invested in infrastructure, cultural facilities – and sports. Known as “the sports city in the Ore Mountains,” Aue has gained recognition far beyond the borders of Saxony. The football club FC Erzgebirge Aue – formerly Wismut Aue – is especially popular, having been multiple East German champions and DDR Cup winners. Since 2016, Aue has played in the men’s second Bundesliga at the Erzgebirgsstadion, which was extensively renovated and converted into a football-only stadium ten years ago. This had consequences for local athletics, which no longer had space in the new arena. Athletes previously had to travel as far as Schwarzenberg, 10 km away, to train. The situation changed with the construction of the new “Sports and Leisure Centre,” begun in 2018 by the planning office Ahner Landscape Architecture and the contractor Phoenix Bau, located on the former site of the railway depot. The facility includes a multipurpose hall with changing rooms and a Type B athletic facility featuring six circular and multiple short-distance running tracks. The 5.5-hectare complex also includes a full-size synthetic turf field, a small synthetic turf field, a natural grass field, and a floodlight system, with Polytan contributing several products.

The full-size field was equipped in 2019 with our LigaTurf Cross synthetic turf. Its major advantage: it combines smooth and textured filaments, merging the best of both turf types into an ideal football pitch. Its durability makes it suitable for professional training facilities, amateur and professional clubs, and sports schools. In 2020, a LigaTurf Cross GT^zero was installed on the 4,200 m² small turf field, an advanced version of our proven Polytan LigaTurf Cross and the first CO₂-neutral football turf for competitive and recreational sports. Manufactured 100% climate-neutrally, it ensures optimal playing properties without compromise. Achieved through an innovative production process and the use of a biobased plastic sourced from sustainable agriculture, its CO₂-neutral eco-balance has been officially certified by Fokus Zukunft GmbH & Co.KG, a sustainability consulting firm.

The full-size field is surrounded by a six-lane competition track that includes short-distance tracks. We installed Polytan Rekortan M, the professional among our athletic track surfaces. A highlight of the athletics facility in Aue is its Polytan SMART equipment, our digital performance diagnostics tool, which allows athletes to optimize their performance through precise recording of their achievements. The facility is used for school sports in the mornings and by local clubs and their youth teams in the afternoons and evenings.

The construction costs of approximately €7.4 million are 90% funded by grants, including programs by the Free State of Saxony VwV InvestKraft (“Bridges to the Future”) and the federal government's “Social Integration in Communities” investment pact. The goal is to enable participation and integration of all people regardless of income, age, origin, or religion. The Sports and Leisure Centre Aue has been completed and handed over to the city in 2021.