Ernst-Alexandrinen-Volksbad
The Ernst-Alexandrinen-Volksbad was a public bath that was opened in 1907 in the then royal seat of Coburg with around 22,000 inhabitants. In 1977 the Art Nouveau building was partially demolished. The entrance building is listed as a monument in the Bavarian list of monuments.
history
In order to improve the health and hygiene of the population, the Volksbadstiftung was founded in Coburg in 1899 and in September 1900 Duchess Alexandrine (widow Ernst II ) made 120,000 marks available in her will for the construction of a public bath. After the death of Alexandrine on December 20, 1904, the Coburg city council decided on March 24, 1905 to build the combination pool for sporting and sanitary purposes. The design in Art Nouveau forms for swimming pools, steam baths, tubs and shower baths under one roof was made by the Coburg city architect Max Böhme until December 1905 , who used the Gießen public baths from 1898 as a template. The Coburg sculptor Otto Poertzel contributed to the interior design, friezes, coats of arms and the gable crowning. In 1906, under the direction of the architect Hans Münscher, construction work began on Judenanger, an area on the Itz between the Judenbrücke and the Rückertschule . The building was completed in the summer of 1907 and on August 26th the bathing establishment was officially opened, consecrated as the Ernst-Alexandrinen-Volksbad after the founder and her husband . The construction costs for the relatively lavish public bath amounted to 283,207 marks, of which the city contributed 132,829 marks and the rest of the public bath foundation, which administered the legacy of the Duchess Alexandrine. Critics accused Böhme of having ignored the late Duchess's wish for a simple building. One year after the opening of the public baths, the Alexandrinenbrunnen was inaugurated in the neighborhood to commemorate the founder.
The bathing establishment initially had ten employees (two lifeguards and their wives, a cashier, a machinist, an auxiliary machinist, two washerwomen and an auxiliary washerwoman). The Coburgs accepted the bath very well and up to 1,400 tickets were sold in one day. In 1908 a total of 95,000 tickets were sold, the number of which rose to 180,000 in 1914. A lack of coal and higher entrance fees due to increased heating costs led to a decline in visitor numbers during and after the First World War .
The pool was temporarily closed during the Second World War, it was reopened on April 16, 1946, and full operation began in March 1951. However, the increasing number of bathrooms with bathtubs in the apartments led to the loss of customers and a change in focus as a recreational facility for water sports and swimming lessons. The expansion and renovation of the aging Ernst-Alexandrinen-Volksbad was discussed by the Coburg city council in the 1960s and was ultimately omitted in favor of a new building next to the outdoor pool in Rosenauer Straße. The Volksbad was closed on May 24, 1973. The house was to be completely demolished for a connecting road between Viktoriastrasse and Lossaustrasse. Because of great opposition from the population, a compromise was found to keep the entrance building. The State Office for Monument Preservation agreed. The Building Senate of the Coburg City Council rejected it for reasons of cost. Although the negotiations were not yet complete, the demolition of the swimming pool began on the morning of November 4, 1977 without sufficient authorization. A documentary safeguarding of the valuable building stock by the monument protection authority could no longer take place. On June 29, 1978, the Coburg city council described the demolition as a wrong decision. The person responsible for issuing the demolition permit could not be determined.
The portico building with the entrance hall remained damaged and had to be restored for 1.14 million DM. In 1981 it was completed and became the seat of the Auditing Office of the City of Coburg. Later a branch of the company health insurance fund FTE moved into the building. The building, popularly known as the Alexandrinenbad , originally had the address Löwenstraße 30, which was changed to Alfred Sauerteig-Anlage 1 in 1987 for the remaining portico building in memory of the former mayor of Coburg, Alfred Sauerteig.
building
The bathing establishment consisted of a swimming pool on the ground floor with a 20 meter long, 10 meter wide and 0.8 to 3.0 meter deep pool, 36 changing rooms, a large changing room and cleaning rooms separated by adults and children. There was also a tub department with 13 tubs, divided into women and men. The shower department with 21 showers for men and women was located in the basement. On the upper floor was the steam bath department with a Roman-Irish steam bath , electric light and massage baths as well as relaxation rooms and a terrace for relaxation. There was also a laundry and a boiler and machine house for heating. In the 1950s, municipal district heating was used, the Art Nouveau fireplace was demolished and the boiler house was converted into a sauna .
The swimming pool was designed as a two-story, half- hipped roof building with a cellar . The preserved portico building with the entrance and the cash desk, adorned with elaborate Art Nouveau décor, stood on the right in front of the multi-part indoor swimming pool complex facing north-south. The gable roof building is characterized by two arcades above the entrance, which were designed by Otto Poertzel with stone masks and floral ornamentation. On the left side of the building, behind the bay tower, is the stairwell with a Welschen hood. At the top of the gable stands the life-size bronze figure of a naked swimmer, created by Otto Poertzel, as a gable acrotist . Bossed rectangular plinth and arched windows with wedge stones are grouped together in groups of three. The original interior features stained glass and an Art Nouveau staircase.
literature
- Christian Boseckert: The Ernst-Alexandrinen-Volksbad and its importance for Coburg . In: Coburger Geschichtsblätter , annual volume 2007, pp. 55–72.
- Peter Morsbach, Otto Titz: City of Coburg (= Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation [Hrsg.]: Monuments in Bavaria . Volume IV.48 ). Karl M. Lipp Verlag, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-87490-590-X .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Coburger Zeitung, August 27, 1907
- ↑ Harald Sandner: Coburg in the 20th century. The chronicle of the city of Coburg and the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from January 1, 1900 to December 31, 1999 - from the "good old days" to the dawn of the 21st century. Against forgetting . Verlagsanstalt Neue Presse, Coburg 2002, ISBN 3-00-006732-9 , p. 289
- ↑ Harald Sandner: Coburg in the 20th century. P. 294
Coordinates: 50 ° 15 '36.2 " N , 10 ° 57' 35.4" E