Old City Bath (Augsburg)
The Alte Stadtbad is an Art Nouveau swimming pool opened in 1903 in the center of Augsburg . It was opened as a typical public bath . The Stadtbad is only a few minutes' walk from the pedestrian zone in the city center on Leonhardsberg. The area is limited to the west by the Stadtbach canal , which was created shortly before from the confluence of the Vorderer, Hinterer and Mittlerer Lech canals, and to the east by the city moat.
history
On April 18, 1895, the Forster siblings, a family of industrialists, donated 300,000 gold marks to the city for the construction of a popular spa that had long been desired. Thereupon the planning was started after the decision of the city council in 1896 by the upper town building officer Fritz Steinhäußer with the support of the architect Stein. The donation was even increased to 360,000 gold marks before construction began.
There had been swimming pools in the vicinity of the site or on the property itself. The basement bath stood here until around 1794 and the Wall Bath, which was in use until 1885, was on the other side of the Stadtbach on the Mauerberg.
Construction of the pool began on May 1, 1901. After a two-year construction period, the opening ceremony took place on March 1, 1903 with a “swimming show”. The construction costs were ultimately 952,246 marks. The reasons for the price increase were the difficult underground and technical problems.
The municipal swimming pool became the so-called “ public swimming pool”, making it the second indoor swimming pool in Bavaria after the Müller public swimming pool in Munich. Even at the opening, it was considered a “first-rate sight” in Augsburg, as described in a contemporary city guide.
Renovations
Structural damage caused by moisture had to be repaired during the first five years. In 1915 another renovation was carried out. Finally, from 1925 to 1929, parts of the Art Nouveau were removed as part of renovation and renewal measures in favor of a more modern perceived objectivity. In the 1930s, up to 400,000 bathers came to the house every year.
The Stadtbad was damaged during the bombing raids on Augsburg during World War II . However, the war damage in its immediate vicinity was more devastating. The resulting fallow land enabled the city to build a four-lane new east-west axis immediately south of the Stadtbad, the ramp-like street "Leonhardsberg", where previously only a lane with a bridge over the Stadtbach, the Haarbrücke , passed the Stadtbad would have. In addition, new buildings and a gas station now nestled close to the Art Nouveau pool.
After the war, the American occupiers in particular used the bathroom. It also offered one of the few options for thorough personal hygiene for those in Augsburg who were suffering from a housing shortage. However, with the construction of more swimming pools in Augsburg, the number of visitors decreased noticeably. In 1959 the second indoor swimming pool in Augsburg was opened, the "Plärrerbad" on the Plärrer .
Due to the general deterioration of the building structure, the danger of collapse was determined in 1981 and the pool was closed. In 1985, the then Bavarian Prime Minister Franz Josef Strauss promised 10 million DM for the renovation of the pool as part of Augsburg's 2000th anniversary celebration. It was renovated between 1987 and 1992, so that it could reopen on March 28, 1992. The long renovation period resulted from initially undetectable leaks in the stainless steel lining of the two swimming pools. The costs ultimately amounted to 24 million DM.
Due to the need for renewed renovation, mayor Kurt Gribl and the treasurer of the city of Augsburg proposed selling the public swimming pool to a private investor in November 2009. On the other hand, a broad citizens' movement formed who wanted to prevent the sale and want the bathroom to continue to be operated under municipal management. A petition by the initiators Claudia Zerbe, Angelika Kratz and Franz Ragutzki started in February 2010 and was successful in a short time. On March 18, 2010, they handed over 16,000 collected signatures to the mayor. It was then assured that the sales plans were off the table.
Today around 50,000 bathers visit the Stadtbad every year.
description
The city bath was originally designed as a public bath. There were tub baths, sweat baths and a dog bath. There was also a laundry on site. Today it has two swimming pools. The pool dimensions are 22.5 × 11.8 m for the large one ("men's hall") and 17 × 8 m for the small one ("women's hall"). The water depth ranges from 0.90 m to 2.60 m. The water temperature is constantly 29 ° C.
In the building there is a café accessible from the bathroom . There is also a wellness offer, a Finnish sauna , a Roman-Irish sweat bath and a bio sauna .
literature
- Carolin Ruther: Clean & healthy! The German hygiene and public bathing movement and the old city bath in Augsburg . Tectum, Marburg 2014, ISBN 978-3-8288-3238-1 .
Web links
- Friends of the Alten Stadtbad eV (opening times and prices)
- The Stadtbad on the pages of the city of Augsburg
- Altes Stadtbad in the Augsburg Wiki
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Carolin Ruther: Clean & healthy! The German hygiene and public bathing movement and the old city bath in Augsburg . Tectum, Marburg 2014, ISBN 978-3-8288-3238-1 .
- ↑ Augsburger Allgemeine of November 17, 2009: Friends of the Old City Baths are gathering , queried on October 6, 2015
- ↑ Augsburger Allgemeine of March 18, 2010: Citizens' petition: Mayor Gribl gives his signature , requested on December 8, 2010
Coordinates: 48 ° 22 ′ 15.9 ″ N , 10 ° 54 ′ 1.5 ″ E