Helenenbad

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Entrance to the Helenenbad

The Helenenbad was an open-air swimming pool in the northwest of downtown Görlitz . Today the lawns and play areas on the site of the former pool are used as an air bath and park.

As early as 1921, members of the workers' swimming club decided to build their own open-air swimming pool, as relations with the middle-class club Weddigen , which used the Stadtbad Weinbergpark , were not good. The then owner of the Leontinenhof, Baroness Helene von Carnap, sold part of her property to the workers' swimming club on favorable terms. The Bauhütte Görlitz , a union construction company, took over the construction contract. Parts of the population worked voluntarily in the construction of the pool, which were paid for with construction stamps. The Leontinenhof provided the teams required for the haulage services free of charge.

In 1922 the outdoor pool was opened. The swimming pool was 70 meters long and 25 meters wide. The adjacent non-swimmer pool was 20 × 25 meters. At the edge of the swimming pool there was a three and a five meter diving board. The two basins were fed by spring water from the nearby Siebenbörner . The sunbathing lawns followed from the pool on a flat slope. The pool was used by numerous working class families as a place for excursions, but volunteer instructors also trained swimmers, jumpers and water polo players here.

After the seizure of power of the Nazis , the pool of which was German Labor Front (DAF) assumed that the bathroom on May 19, 1934 as Volksbad the German Labor Front reopened. The open-air swimming pool was later handed over to the city as a municipal authority, which operated the swimming pool until 2002. The bathroom was redesigned in 1960 and during the GDR era attracted up to 30,000 visitors a year.

In 1992 the kiosk, the shower wing and the changing rooms were modernized. The basin recently had severe cracks, so that water always had to be pumped in, which led to low water temperatures in the basins. The city closed the bath in 2002 due to a lack of funds for the renovation. In the last year of operation, there were 10,500 euros in income compared to 63,000 euros in expenses. There were several plans and city council resolutions to renovate the basins, but these failed mostly due to a lack of money or a lack of annual subsidies that could be made available by the city. Only the systems around the pools were put in order, the buildings renovated and the sanitary facilities renewed. In addition, two soccer fields and a beach volleyball field were built. In 2006, a support association for the Helenenbad was founded.

According to the development association, a new building with a stainless steel pool would cost around 700,000 euros. In 2007 the bath reopened as an air bath without a water basin. Despite everything, the development association is still pursuing a reopening with swimming pools for the future.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Roland Otto: Görlitzer Badeanstalt experienced political turmoil . In: Saxon newspaper . May 30, 2009 ( online [accessed May 24, 2012]).
  2. ↑ Susan Ehrlich: Bathing falls into the water . In: Saxon newspaper . June 5, 2002 ( online [accessed May 24, 2012]).
  3. ↑ a b Ingo Kramer: A simple bath is sufficient . In: Saxon newspaper . November 30, 2006 ( online [accessed May 24, 2012]).
  4. ^ History of the Görlitzer Helenenbad . In: Saxon newspaper . August 15, 2007 ( online [accessed May 24, 2012]).
  5. ↑ Christine Marakanow: Cosmetics alone are not enough here . In: Saxon newspaper . May 18, 2005 ( online [accessed May 24, 2012]).
  6. ↑ helenenbad.de: Home . Retrieved May 24, 2012 .
  7. ↑ Jenny Ebert: Big plans for Helene . In: Saxon newspaper . September 17, 2007 ( online [accessed May 24, 2012]).
  8. ↑ Ingo Kramer: Guests miss the water . In: Saxon newspaper . August 15, 2007 ( online [accessed May 24, 2012]).

Coordinates: 51 ° 9 ′ 19.1 ″  N , 14 ° 57 ′ 29.1 ″  E