Berlin – It is shortly after eight in the morning, there are thickly wrapped up people on the streets of Kreuzberg and cyclists who are already wearing gloves and hats. The weather app reports eight degrees. Despite the low temperatures, a small queue has formed in front of the outdoor pool on Prinzenstrasse, which is just about to dissolve. At eight o’clock sharp, the latticed door of the prince’s bath opened like every morning. A few minutes later, the first guests are already on their way from the changing rooms to the pool. Most of them wear swimwear, only a few people have put on a bathrobe or sweatshirt.
Swimming pools: “An absolute novelty”
Outdoor swimming pools that are still open in October: “This is an absolute novelty in the history of the Berliner Bäderbetriebe (BBB),” says the state company’s press release that hangs at the entrance to the Kreuzberg summer pool. The Olympiastadionbad in Charlottenburg is open this year until October 24th, the Kreuzberg summer pool until October 22nd. “This is how we meet the wishes of many bathers”, BBB boss Johannes Kleinsorg is quoted as saying.
In the terrace pool of the Prinzenbad, only a few swimmers swim their laps around 8:30. Your skin seems a little red. No wonder, the terrace pool is the only one of the three pools that is not heated. At 17 degrees, the water is roughly as cold as the surrounding lakes.
Berliner Zeitung / Susanne Rost
At 24 degrees it is very pleasant to swim in the sports pool (SB).
At 24 degrees, it is significantly warmer in the 50-meter sports pool at the very back. And there is almost as much activity here on this fresh October morning as in midsummer: an estimated 60 to 70 men and women of all ages have plunged into the water, which is so much warmer than the air. The lane at the front is the busiest and the only one to get some sun early in the morning and where many swim with their heads above water. The pace is higher on the other three double lanes, here people prefer to paddle or even dolphin, while swimming equipment such as fins, paddles and pull-boys are lying between the individual leaves at the edge of the pool.
One of the people who are happy with the BBB pilot project is Steffen Wagner. “Swimming in the fresh air is a thousand times better than in the hall,” says the 46-year-old from Kreuzberg, who plows through the water two to three times a week. Like him, most of them come here regularly, we know each other. Here and there a hand is raised out of the water in greeting or paused for a short chat at the edge of the pool. No, it’s not cold. The water is 24 degrees.
Replacement for closed baths
Bianca Tchinda from the board of the Association of Berlin Swimming Pool Visitors (VdBBB), who is rather critical of the swimming pool operators, is also enthusiastic about the model project. “It’s wonderful that you can still swim outside now,” she says. “You have to acknowledge that such a sedate business as the BBB moves.” Your association has been demanding for years that the summer pools remain open longer. The model project may have been born out of necessity: both in Kreuzberg and in Charlottenburg, ailing swimming pools were closed for renovation. “But that the BBB create a replacement for it, that’s great,” says Tchinda, who is currently using the Olympic Stadium Pool.
400 to 600 guests come to the Charlottenburger Bad every day, says Claudia Blankennagel from BBB. In the Kreuzberg Prinzenbad, which is open four hours shorter than the Olympiastadionbad, there are an average of 300 to 500. On the sunny Sunday of the elections, there were even 1,400 people. “The model project is going well,” she says. Regular guests in particular took advantage of the offer, they were “totally happy”.
Berliner Zeitung / Markus Wächter
Breakfast is served here after a swim: Mathias Kutscha runs the cafeteria in the Prinzenbad together with Dagmar Keuenhof.
However, there is one point of criticism: “8 o’clock is clearly too late”, is the headline of a current article in the Prinzenbad blog. “A pilot project can only succeed if the large group of professional swimmers is not excluded,” writes Sigrid Deitelhoff. Mathias Kutscha, who runs the cafeteria in the Prinzenbad together with Dagmar Keuenhof, shares the criticism. “Opening at 8 o’clock – that’s not a half or a whole,” he says. The autumn opening times were of no use to many regular business guests who otherwise had breakfast here after swimming because they couldn’t get to their desks in time. Even in the evening it is too tight for working people: the cash register closes at 5 p.m. and the bathroom at 6 p.m. “Why do we still need the time slots?” Asks the operator of the popular cafeteria.
Insider tips
- Good timing: The morning swim time is very popular. Those who are flexible should use the second half of the time window – in the Prinzenbad from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. – there is much less going on.
- Correct outfit: If you get cold quickly, pack a bathrobe for the Kreuzberg summer pool for the not very short walk from the changing rooms to the pool. Or change at the pool first. In the Olympiastadionbad, on the other hand, it is a stone’s throw from the showers to the water. On cold days, a swimming cap ensures that you don’t get too cold while swimming.
- Perfect security: Locks are required in the changing rooms in both Kreuzberg and Charlottenburg to lock the wardrobes. Don’t forget to bring your own!
- Great warm-up: The showers were closed for a long time due to the Corona requirements, but that has been a thing of the past several weeks. If you are cold after swimming, you can warm up under a hot shower. 5 cent coins are required for the hair dryers. And the warmth from the inside – at least in the Prinzenbad – is provided by the cafeteria, which was recently ennobled by the online editorial team of the weekly newspaper Zeit as the “prince among the kiosks”.
Claudia Blankennagel from the bathing company knows the criticism: The time windows are still necessary due to the pandemic, the contact-intensive surfaces have to be disinfected between the individual visitor shifts. The opening times in the Prinzenbad, which opens at 7 a.m. in the summer, could not be extended at the moment, as the bathroom has no outside lighting. In the morning it is not really light yet, in the semi-darkness there is a risk of accidents.
That’s why extra headlights were purchased in the Olympic Stadium Pool, reports André Lüdeke, the deputy head of the Charlottenburg Pools – and therefore also responsible for the outdoor pool, which opens daily at 7 a.m. and closes at 9 p.m. The headlights are attached to the shiny silver housing of the grandstands, which, when you look out of focus through your swimming goggles, look a little like being covered by Christo and Jeanne-Claude. “The early and evening shifts are the most popular,” reports Lüdeke. “Swimming here in the sun in the evening is really great.” He has already tried it himself. His tasks currently also include precisely documenting the energy consumption of the bathroom, which was built in 1935. How the model project will be assessed after its completion will depend, among other things, on the district heating costs.
“In terms of energy, it is definitely a mess,” says Beate Schultz. “But for me it’s a wonderful luxury. It’s great to be able to swim outside now. ”She would also be willing to pay a higher entrance fee for swimming in autumn, says the Kreuzberg native, who is currently at the Prinzenbad five to six times a week. “5 euros instead of 3.80 euros would be fine for me,” says the passionate swimmer, who normally swims in the non-swimmer’s pool. In the children’s pool, the water is only heated a little: it is currently 19 degrees. “With an outside temperature of 10 degrees, that’s a challenge,” admits Beate Schultz, who has therefore shortened her daily swimming workload to 2000 meters. Maybe she’ll move to the warmer lap pool soon. “The idea of having to swim in the hall again soon is scary,” says the woman from Kreuzberg. That is one of the reasons why she was very happy when the pool operators announced the extension of the season in the two pools in September.
Claudia Blankennagel from the bathing company is currently unable to say whether swimming outdoors will be a one-off event in autumn. “We will do a detailed evaluation,” she says. In addition to energy and personnel costs, the number of visitors will also play a role. “So far we are very satisfied.”
Opening times: Olympiastadionbad (Olympischer Platz 3) daily 7 am–9am, 9.15am – 12pm, 12.15pm – 3.15pm, 3.30pm – 6.30pm, 6.45–9.30pm, until October 24th. Sommerbad Kreuzberg (Prinzenstrasse 113 to 119) daily 8 am-10.15am, 10.30am-12.45pm, 1.30pm-3.15pm and 3.30pm-6pm until October 22nd. Online tickets at www.berlinerbaeder.de
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