Stadtbad (Krefeld)
The Krefeld Stadtbad is a bathing establishment opened in 1890 on Neusser Straße in the center of Krefeld . In 2000, operations were suspended until further notice and the pool was closed for the time being after more than 110 years. The further use has not yet been clarified.
prehistory
The need for a public bathing establishment resulted from a minimum requirement of the Prussian Ministry of Justice . At the insistence of the Chamber of Commerce, the city of Krefeld wanted to bring the competent regional court to the city. However, this was rejected by the ministry as long as the Krefelders did not even have a bathing establishment where they could wash themselves properly at least once a week. At the end of the 19th century , bathrooms were not part of the standard equipment of an apartment. Instead, people washed themselves with a washbowl or visited one of the numerous public baths in the Rhine . So the decision was made, more or less out of defiance of the authorities, to build a magnificent bathing establishment. The city council saw the construction of the facility as "a matter on which one should not save" .
The city bath
The city pool, which had been planned since 1882, opened in 1890 on Neusser Straße. The originally estimated construction costs of 200,000 marks were, however, far exceeded in the end with 919,134.89 marks. Investors were to be found for this sum through a stock corporation , but that never happened and the city of Krefeld had to pay for this sum alone.
The equipment was first class: there was a separate swimming pool for men and one for women as well as showers and bathtubs in three different classes, including the so-called “Kaiserbad”, a luxurious salon bath. The equally luxurious Irish-Roman bath with steam bath and sauna was only available to the wealthy upper class due to its entrance fee . Here you could sweat and be treated by a masseur . There was also a medical bath section with tub baths. When it opened, the Krefeld public baths were thought to be the most beautiful, splendid and luxurious bathing establishment in the German Empire . All tiles came from the same factory, which took over two years to produce the material. The tiles and the complex mosaics made from them were among the most expensive that could be bought at the time. All of the material was laid without joints; very few of today's tilers have mastered this technique. For each locker room one was crystal mirror with oak frame purchased. The furniture in the first grade was made of oak, that of the second grade was made of pine . Coconut mats were laid out on the floors to reduce the risk of slipping. At the opening in 1890, the Crefelder Zeitung raved: "The entire interior is so beautiful, magnificent and dignified, down to the smallest detail, and so functional that after a tour of the cost of the city pool one is by no means astonished."
The shower department was opened in 1897. The shower for 10 or 25 pfennigs including towel and soap was used extensively.
The bathroom required large amounts of water and, above all, coal for heating. Nevertheless, the indoor pools could not be heated to more than 19 ° C. In particular, the steam bath and sauna as well as the hot tubs and showers used a lot of coal. When this became scarce in the First World War , the bath had to be closed for a long time for the first time.
A water treatment or - disinfection at the time was not yet common. The water quickly became cloudy, especially in summer. At peak times, the water was changed up to three times within a week.
outdoor pool
The outdoor pool opened in 1925 . This was lavishly equipped with fountains and columns with galleries and water features. The outdoor pool had two pools that were also separately accessible from Gerberstrasse. The larger pool was suitable for international competitions . During the Second World War , the outdoor swimming pool was badly hit and destroyed by at least one high-explosive bomb in an air raid in October 1944 . After the end of the war, the outdoor swimming pool was simply and purposefully restored in 1946.
Sports
Sports also found a home in the indoor pools. In July 1893 the Krefeld swimming club was founded . Competitions were also held right from the start and Krefeld's Olympians , world and European champions also trained in this swimming pool, including Wiltrud Urselmann and Martha Genenger .
In 1921 the bath, which had been closed during the First World War, was reopened. Swimming became an integral part of physical education in city schools . Most of the Krefeld children learned to swim here. But new popular swimming sports such as water polo are also enjoying increasing popularity.
The lifeguards of the Krefeld water rescue service of the German Red Cross trained once a week in the women's pool until it was closed.
International competitions were held in the outdoor pool from 1925. In 1951 the Italian Carlo Pedersoli started for Lazio Rome in such a competition . Pedersoli later became famous as an actor under the stage name Bud Spencer.
Decline
Since bathrooms with a shower are now part of the minimum standard of apartments, the bathroom department was used less and less and first had to be downsized and closed completely in the 1990s. In the earthquake of April 13, 1992, the pool in the women's pool was badly damaged and has also been out of order since then. The Herrenbad also remained closed due to technical problems with the outdated facility. In 2000 the entire pool was shut down after more than 110 years. The entire bathroom is a listed building and is largely still in its original structural condition. However, there was a constant lack of financial means for maintenance measures and so the former "jewel" degenerated into an ordinary bathing establishment. The Herrenbad was renovated, but in the last year of its existence only 11,000 paying bathers came, who could not cover the annual operating costs of more than 1 million DM . The prospects of greater success for millions more after a complete renovation are assessed as very low.
There are many reasons for this. Since the establishment of the bathing center in the Bockum district of Krefeld , the number of visitors to the city bath has steadily decreased. The modernization of living space also made the shower and bath department increasingly superfluous. Already unattractive to the public, the municipal pool was increasingly used by clubs and schools. When, immediately after the renovation of the Bockum swimming center on August 18, 2000, the ceiling collapsed due to construction defects and had to remain closed for a longer period of time, school and club swimming in the municipal swimming pool was expanded even further as an alternative area. However, this meant that the bathroom was only available to the public for two hours in the early morning. Often it even remained completely closed due to the sometimes considerable deficiencies in the outdated technical systems. Due to frequent failures of the ailing heating system, the water in the pool often remained cold. Another swimming pool was opened in the Krefeld district of Königshof almost at the same time as the renovation deficiencies in the Bockum bathing center were remedied . This should defuse the situation for the municipal swimming pool, which is fully booked by clubs and schools. The result: When the Bockum bathing center finally went back to normal operation, the city bath was superfluous and increasingly in need of renovation.
Further use
For years there has been an argument in Krefeld about the further use of the pool. Unheated and without repair and safety measures, the demolition of what is actually a rock-solid building is gradually becoming inevitable. As at the time it was built, the Stadtbad is becoming a political issue. A citizens' initiative "Pro Stadtbad" obtained a referendum on June 11, 2006 by collecting signatures . The aim of the initiative was to preserve the structure of the bathroom and to enable swimming and wellness again. They were even prepared to make concessions to a possible investor , because without additional sources of income, such as restaurants or shops, the city pool cannot be economically attractive. However, due to insufficient participation of citizens and therefore too few votes, the referendum was unsuccessful. There are currently various concepts ranging from the complete demolition and abandonment of use to the partial preservation of at least the imperial bath as a museum . Offers were made to the Krefeld city council to tear down the entire block between Neusser Strasse, Südwall and Gerberstrasse, including the listed Stadtbad, and to build a large shopping center at this point. The offer was all the more tempting as the party headquarters of the Krefeld SPD is also in this area. Not least because of the public criticism of the Krefeld citizens of this project, the investors at the time finally dropped out.
Current
The architect Jochem Bellinger has presented new plans for the city pool to individual Krefeld city council members. Bellinger mediates a group of German-Turkish investors who want to convert and use the city pool in an oriental style. A market hall is to be built in which food and specialties from Turkey and the Arab countries will be offered. A large bazaar should offer space for oriental handicrafts, antiques and carpet dealers. Around 80-100 apartments for the elderly are planned on the grounds of the outdoor swimming pool. Even if the maintenance of the swimming operation cannot be financed, various wellness offers should still be considered: a Turkish hammam , a sauna and a Roman steam bath are planned. The investment volume is estimated at 30 million euros. Planning and implementation are jointly set for 3 years. At the moment, however, the plans have not been submitted to the city council or the mayor.
In 2018 the Krefeld citizens' initiative freischwimmer ev was founded , which aims to preserve the decaying monument in the context of positive urban development and to bring it closer to the citizens with ideas, commitment and creativity. The plan is to use hands-on activities to meet the requirements for u. a. to create cultural events.
See also
Individual evidence
- ^ Bud Spencer's Stadtbad Memories , RP-Online from July 29, 2011
- ↑ Rescue for the city pool? ( Memento of the original from August 28, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. - RP-Online from August 26, 2009.
- ^ Rheinische Post dated December 2, 2009
- ↑ freischwimmer ev in the old Krefeld Stadtbad on Neusser Straße. Accessed November 7, 2019 (German).
Web links
- Editorial special from the online editorial team of the Westdeutsche Zeitung
Coordinates: 51 ° 19 ′ 37 ″ N , 6 ° 33 ′ 55 ″ E