Niederrad light and air bath

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View from the center of the park to the west. In the background (center) the café in the park

The Niederrad light and air bath ( LiLu as a naturalized abbreviation) is a public green space in the city of Frankfurt am Main . It is located on the northern edge of the Niederrad district on an approximately 500 m long, narrow headland ( peninsula ) on the orographic left, geographically southern bank of the River Main . The facility offers, among other things, a sunbathing area, a barbecue area and a small restaurant.

history

Remains of the lock chamber of the Niederrad lock, view to the northwest. On the right in the background the area of ​​the light and air bath

Niederrad lock

In order to enable ships with greater drafts to navigate the Main, its lower course between Frankfurt and the mouth of the river near Mainz was channeled in the 1880s. The Niederrad lock, built between 1883 and 1885, was one of five needle weirs along this section of the river. During the construction of the lower canal of the Niederrad lock, a well-preserved Roman grave was found. In addition to some clay vessels and a lamp, a coin from the Trajan period was also found. The needle weirs on the Main were in operation until their tasks were taken over in 1928 by more powerful roller weirs such as that of the Frankfurt barrage at Griesheim .

Bathing in the 20th century

In 1900, the Niederrad light and air bath was opened as a public bathing beach and river swimming pool on the headland that was heaped up for the lock . Several functional buildings had been erected for the operation of the baths - wooden sheds with changing and storage rooms as well as observation posts for saving lives. A large part of these buildings served, among other things, as storage for the park gardeners' equipment until they were demolished in 2016.

A preserved wooden barrack (“Blue House”) in the east of the headland was the seat of an art association from 2008 until it was destroyed by fire in January 2018. Reconstruction is planned.

Buildings of the former river swimming pool on the southern edge of the site (demolished in 2016)

Bathing in the Main was common up until the 20th century, and there were several other baths on the Main, for example at the Molenkopf in Frankfurt's Osthafen and on the Nice riverside on the northern bank of the Main. During the time of National Socialism , the light and air bath was the last public bathing establishment open to Jewish citizens in Frankfurt until 1938 . From November 1938, the use of public baths was completely forbidden to Jews in Frankfurt; in the following year the light and air bath was taken over by the National Socialist organization SA . A memorial plaque on the site, unveiled in 1994, commemorates the persecution of Frankfurt's Jewish population. After the end of the Second World War until 1949, the light and air bath was used by the US occupation troops stationed in Frankfurt as a leisure and recreation area; afterwards the sports and bathing office of the city of Frankfurt took over the administration. In the following years the bathing operation was stopped for a long time. The headland in the Main served as a donkey pasture and as a campsite .

Reopening as a park in the 21st century

In May 2003, after renovation work, the bath was reopened to the public under the old name. The redesigned park area extends on the Niederräder Ufer from the western end of the headland (at the level of the Elli-Lucht Park to the south ) to its eastern edge at the confluence of the Königsbach into the Main at the southern foot of the Main-Neckar Bridge . The park area is divided into four zones of different widths from west to east: grill and event area, sunbathing area / play area, catering area and another zone with sunbathing area / play area.

Pontoon café LILU 1 with terrace

Since then, the park-like area has been home to a playground, extensive sunbathing lawns, around 150 m² of heaped sand, a barbecue area and a café with a wooden outdoor terrace. The café and public toilets are located in a steel pontoon 19 m long and 5.5 m wide and labeled "LILU 1" approximately in the middle of the west-east extension of the peninsula. At high water levels , this pontoon anchored to two several meter high bollards floats vertically on the high water without leaving its location. The pontoon was planned by Meixner Schlüter Wendt Architects .

The operation of the light and air bath was carried out by the transfer workshop of the Frankfurter Verein für Sozial Heimstätten e. V. taken over. In addition to the pontoon café, the transfer workshop on the site also rents swivel grills , volleyball nets and boules as well as other equipment ( beer sets and the like) for on-site events. The immediately adjacent facilities of the Alte Niederräder lock , separated from the park area by a fence - lock chamber and building - are managed by the Aschaffenburg Waterways and Shipping Office , outskirts of Frankfurt.

literature

  • Sonja Thelen: Green Frankfurt. A guide to more than 70 parks and facilities in the city. B3 Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2007. ISBN 978-3-938783-19-1
  • City of Frankfurt am Main, Environment Agency (Ed.): City waters - discover rivers, streams, oxbow lakes . Frankfurt am Main 2004

Web links

Commons : Licht- und Luftbad Niederrad  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

References and comments

  1. ↑ a b City of Frankfurt am Main, Environment Agency (ed.): The Green Belt Leisure Card . 7th edition, 2011
  2. ↑ On a map of the Ravenstein publishing house from 1885, this lock is marked under the name Schleuse “bei Frankfurt” : Ravenstein plan from 1885 (excerpt) on Wikimedia Commons.
  3. ^ Report by the master builder Düsing in the 1886 Bonner Jahrbuch
  4. ↑ Article about the Alte Schleuse Niederrad on naturship.de (accessed on May 3, 2013)
  5. ↑ Urban waters - discovering rivers, streams, oxbow lakes, p. 24
  6. ^ Website Blaues Haus e. V., Association for Art and Free Time . In it: Article 01.02.18 - Your Blue House (accessed October 29, 2018)
  7. ↑ a b Thelen: Grünes Frankfurt, p. 33
  8. ↑ Licht- und Luftbad Niederrad at par.frankfurt.de , the former website of the city of Frankfurt am Main
  9. ↑ Marking of the headland as a campsite in the Falk city map of Frankfurt / M., 57th edition. Falk-Verlag, Ostfildern 1998/1999
  10. ↑ a b City waters - discovering rivers, streams, oxbow lakes, p. 25
  11. ↑ Information board on the site with site regulations and map.
  12. ↑ German Bauzeitschrift. Retrieved March 19, 2018 .
  13. ↑ Thelen: Green Frankfurt, p. 34
  14. ↑ Official website of the light and air bath at lilu-frankfurt.de (accessed on August 17, 2013)

Coordinates: 50 ° 5 ′ 36.7 ″  N , 8 ° 38 ′ 46.5 ″  E