Berlin's air and swimming paradise
| Berlin air and bathing paradise (Blub) | |
|---|---|
 Logo of the Blub |
|
| Data | |
| place | Berlin-Britz |
| architect | Genheimer & Partner |
| Client | blub Badeparadies GmbH, Buschkrugallee 64, 12359 Berlin |
| Construction year | 1985 |
| Floor space | approx. 35,000 m² |
| Coordinates | 52 ° 27 '28.6 " N , 13 ° 26' 40.1" E |
The swimming and leisure center Berliner Luft- und Badeparadies ( ; short: blub ) was a leisure pool in Berlin-Britz . It was a recreational facility of national importance.
location
The "Blub Badeparadies" was in the Berlin district of Neukölln in the Britz district at Buschkrugallee 64; this is part of the federal highway 179 . The former Berlin bathing paradise was not far from the Bundesautobahn 100 , it could also be reached with the underground line U7 to the Grenzallee underground station or the 171 bus to the Buschkrugallee and Franz-Körner-Straße station.
In the Berliner Morgenpost on July 25, 2004, the Blub was voted 67th of “Our 100 best: The uncoolest places in town”.
history
On February 14, 1985 the "Blub Badeparadies" was opened in Britz by Harald Frisch (manager of the bath). The construction costs of the Blub amounted to 44 million marks, of which the state of Berlin provided nine million marks as an interest-free loan. After the opening, the Blub jersey became sponsor for the 1985/1986 season of the Berlin sports club Hertha BSC . Since it opened, the Blub, which advertised with slogans such as “Berlin is blowing with pleasure”, has had around seven million visitors and has been open daily from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. In the beginning there were 600,000 visitors per year, by 2001 the number of visitors had dropped to 330,000 annually.
Decline in visitors due to poor hygiene
The decline in visitor numbers was the result of displeasure on the part of many guests and bad press due to the increasing number of complaints about danger spots and poor hygiene . During controls, germ infestation was found mainly in the sauna and whirlpool areas. From 1999 onwards, parts of the pool were closed several times. In February 2002 the Blub kitchen was also temporarily closed. Even rusting outdoor noticed bathers.
Closure for hygienic reasons
A few months later the news about the sighting of rats caused a sensation: According to the words of Neukölln City Councilor Michael Freiberg, inspectors found "a rat in the outdoor pool, a rat carcass in the indoor pool, rat droppings next to the baby pool and bird droppings in the restaurant". Despite the announcement, there was no closure for the time being and:
“The Blub visitors didn't seem irritated by the news about rats. 'I've never seen one here before,' said one. 'Here on the Teltow Canal there are rats everywhere, even in the evenings on the street, that's normal,' said local resident Regina Meier. Ursula Bode, the tenant of the massage department at Blub, even saw herself as a victim of a conspiracy: 'Somebody's got us on the kieker. It looks much worse in many swimming pools. '"
It should also be checked whether “legal steps can be taken against the operator” (Freiberg).
From then on, the canal from the outside to the inside pool was additionally blocked in the evening with a chain link fence to prevent rats from entering.
In December 2002 the health department closed the Blub because of acute rat infestation, bird droppings and the hygienic conditions. City Councilor for Health Michael Freiberg had sent inspectors to the Britzer Bad after complaints from visitors. The rat infestation is said to have come from the nearby Teltow Canal .
Since the new plans could not be financed, bankruptcy was filed in 2003 . After that, Harald Frisch looked in vain for an investor. The Blub closed on February 1, 2005. The “Al Andalus” sauna area, which was also closed on April 30, 2012, was retained for the time being.
Vacancy and new plans
In 2009, six years after the closure, Frisch presented an investor and project developer: Tobias Willmeroth, who had bought the Blub from the Berlin property fund and wanted to open a “family holiday resort” there as early as 2011.
In the meantime, the fallow land and the facilities had become increasingly overgrown and rotten, used by many young people as a meeting point and leisure location, and some also vandalized.
At the end of 2011, Willmeroth announced that an operator had now been found for the planned holiday resort and that it would reopen by early 2014 at the latest. However, both sides had agreed not to disclose the name of the future hotel operator and other details.
In 2012, the Höcherl Group from Munich bought the area with the aim of building 450 rental apartments there. The Blub should be demolished in 2015; the new building should be completed in 2020. The corresponding concept study BLUB was presented on May 22, 2012 at the urban planning office of the Neukölln district .
On July 4, 2013, several emergency vehicles from the Berlin fire brigade were called into the Blub. Garbage and rubbish was burning in the former additional building that housed the “Crazy River” slide. The Berlin fire brigade found that the water supply through hydrants on the site is no longer guaranteed.
There were several other fires in the Blub, including in April and September 2015. The Berlin fire brigade also had to struggle with defective hydrants on these missions, as in 2013.
Contrary to all plans and announcements, nothing happened on the Blub site. After the demolition did not take place in 2015, the Blub ruins increasingly became a destination for walkers and the curious, a meeting place for local youth and a training and competition area for skateboarders; or - from the point of view of the Tagesspiegel - more of a "sleeping place for the homeless, a backdrop for ruin parties and a meeting place for hobby vandals."
For a long time, the Blub presented itself as a bizarre, now largely closed area and building formation, whose concrete walls and objects were almost completely covered by graffiti. The huge, wooden roof structure was in good condition.
Fire 2016
Another fire was reported to the fire brigade on July 21, 2016 at around 10 p.m. The main building, especially the roof structure, was almost completely destroyed in the fire. The fire was extinguished on July 22, 2016 at 5 a.m. The State Criminal Police Office (LKA) determined.
future
450 apartments are to be built on the site by 2020. The development plan was approved on October 17, 2018.
description
A beach and bathing landscape with quarry stone from the Carpathian Mountains , erratic boulders from the Schorfheide and a variety of natural plants stretched under three domes in timber frame construction . In this area, the air temperature was kept constant at 29 degrees, the water temperature was between 29 and 36 degrees. With outdoor facilities and a parking lot, the bathroom covered an area of 35,000 square meters.
On the promenade there was a bar that was also accessible to non-bathers, as well as boutiques, a bikini restaurant and deck chairs. There was a gym that also did aerobics in and out of the water ( aqua fitness ). The large sauna garden was equipped with six different sauna variants and planted with palm trees, orchids and cacti.
On Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, three times in the evenings in the wave pool there was a disco swim and a laser show .
Furnishing
Swimming pool
- A brine pool
- Three whirlpools (referred to here as hot whirlpool pools )
- A combined indoor and outdoor pool . This was a 1.35 m deep, connected pool in which it was possible to swim outdoors all year round. There were also the water grottoes here , five individual caves, inside of which geysers gushed, it rained or it was just dark. In addition, the two slides and the white water channel flow into this basin. At the edge of the pool there were loungers that lay below the water level and from which rising air bubbles created a kind of massage table (referred to here as a massage pool ).
- An outside pool
- In the early years, there was a "blub bathing wave" every 30 to 40 minutes in the wave pool , later every hour on the hour for eight to ten minutes. The large pool was transformed into a wave paradise. It was built in such a way that it slowly increased in depth, like at the sea. In the shallow part of the basin there were boulders, geysers and a fountain shower installation. At the deepest point (water depth 1.80 m) there was a water mushroom above the basin , from which a waterfall flowed into the basin.
White water canal
- A 15 meter long thundering stream next to the rock grottos. This was activated in a certain time interval.
Slip
- The Crazy River , an extra-wide slide, in which you could slide down with large swim rings. These included rapids, eddies, a torrent, banked turns, jumps and whirlpools. In front of the last part of the slide there was a round, approx. 7 m² large room without a slope, which was crossed slowly. After a last straight descent, the slide led into a covered outdoor pool at the beginning of the ascent. This slide was added later and was not part of the pool when it opened.
- The big slide , a partially glazed slide over 120 meters long and with traffic lights . On this one slid skidding and lurching out into the open (in part of the slide one had a clear view of the sky), and then after a steep curve, landed inside the Blub. On the ascent tower of the large slide, there was another small slide halfway up , which was about half the length of the large slide and which also had its destination inside the pool. The slides were built in 1983 by Hartwigsen Freizeitanlagen GmbH.
Sauna garden
- The sauna garden with a size of 1250 square meters offered the following saunas: steam bath (45 ° C), bio sauna (50 ° C), eucalyptus sauna (75 ° C), bike sauna (90 ° C) and a log cabin sauna (95 ° C) C).
Water playground
- With a maximum pool depth of 20 cm and a water temperature of 30 ° C, this area was designed for small children. There were also water figures and slides here.
Garden area
- The 25,000 m² garden was the green oasis of the Blub with rock gardens and lush vegetation. You could have a picnic here on deck chairs or in the seating areas. There was also a volleyball court and an adventure playground for children with a slide and climbing house.
Web links
- Website of the Berlin air and bathing paradise. Archived from the original on June 25, 2007 ; Retrieved March 27, 2002 .
- Thilo Kalkbrenner: Flickr photo set "Former 'Blub Badeparadies' Berlin - July 2013". June 13, 2013, accessed January 3, 2014 .
- Thilo Kalkbrenner: Youtube video "Former 'Blub Badeparadies' Berlin - July 2013" - outdoor area. July 30, 2013, accessed April 21, 2014 .
- Thilo Kalkbrenner: Youtube video tour "Former 'Blub Badeparadies' Berlin - March 2014". March 18, 2014, accessed April 21, 2014 .
Individual references and sources
- ↑ DPMA register information word / figurative mark No. 1080799. Retrieved on January 3, 2014 .
- ↑ Our 100 best, The uncoolest places in town. In: Berliner Morgenpost . July 25, 2004, archived from the original on July 15, 2006 ; Retrieved March 24, 2008 .
- ^ Events in Berlin and in Berlin local transport 1980–1989. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on March 21, 2008 ; Retrieved March 24, 2008 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b c Claudia Fuchs: The paradise rotten . In: Berliner Zeitung , June 6, 2002
- ↑ The wave waves warmly - changing bathing customs: fun pools and bathing temples in the Federal Republic . In: Der Spiegel . No. 24 , 1987 ( online ).
- ↑ Hertha BSC shirt sponsorship history. (No longer available online.) Formerly in the original ; accessed on January 2, 2014 . ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b Cay Dobberke: Blub leisure pool - splash around, climb, go on vacation. In: Der Tagesspiegel . November 30, 2009, accessed July 16, 2015 .
- ↑ a b c d Ute Schneider, Claudia Fuchs: rat carcasses and bird droppings - the fun pool "Blub" is closed / operator wants to reopen soon . In: Berliner Zeitung , December 11, 2002
- ↑ «Blub» -Badeparadies reopened. In: Berliner Morgenpost . December 17, 2002, accessed January 2, 2014 .
- ↑ Stefan Strauss, Birgitt Eltzel: Blown out - there is no money for the renovation of the Blub fun pool, only the sauna world is open . In: Berliner Zeitung , March 29, 2006
- ↑ Website of the sauna world Al-Andalus. Archived from the original on May 25, 2013 ; Retrieved April 21, 2014 .
- ^ Constance Frey: Wellness Resort. Swimming fun in the "Blub" again soon. In: Der Tagesspiegel . October 10, 2011, accessed July 16, 2015 .
- ↑ Thomas Loy: Former fun pool in Berlin-Neukölln. Blub ruin will be demolished this year. In: Der Tagesspiegel . April 23, 2015, accessed July 16, 2015 .
- ↑ HGroup: urban design competition. Retrieved January 3, 2014 .
- ↑ Fire in the former swimming pool "Blub". (No longer available online.) Berlin Fire Brigade, July 4, 2013, formerly in the original ; Retrieved April 21, 2014 . ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Robert Ide: Fire brigade in Berlin: Fire in the old water park "Blub". In: Der Tagesspiegel . April 21, 2015, accessed September 23, 2015 .
- ↑ Fire in the Blub - Britz - Buschkrugallee. Fire brigade documentation, September 23, 2015, accessed on September 23, 2015 .
- ↑ Fire in the old water park in Blub . Der Tagesspiegel , April 21, 2015
- ↑ Julian Graeber, Karin Christmann, Timo Kather: Fire investigation in the "Blub" ended - cause unclear . In: Der Tagesspiegel Online . July 22, 2016 ( tagesspiegel.de [accessed April 2, 2018]).
- ↑ Thomas Loy: The "Blub" in Britz appears again . In: Tagesspiegel Online . February 26, 2018, ISSN 1865-2263 ( tagesspiegel.de [accessed April 2, 2018]).
- ↑ Development plan decided: Blub ruin disappears / new building with 18 percent social housing . In: Berlin Week . ( berliner-woche.de [accessed on November 6, 2018]).
- ↑ a b blub: Selection from 45 to 95 degrees . In: Berliner Kurier , February 9, 1996
- ↑ Laser shows and outdoor swimming . In: Berliner Kurier , January 2, 1998
- ↑ Splashing around and having a sauna: Off to the blub . In: Berliner Kurier , September 24, 1996
