The extinguishing pond becomes a bathing establishment: The sad story of Regensburg's old town outdoor pool

Created: 08/03/2022, 20:57

By: Stefan Aigner

The Regensburg old town outdoor pool was right on Minoritenweg until the early 1950s.

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Until the early 1950s there was a small outdoor pool in the middle of Regensburg's old town.

The story of its creation is rather sad.  

Regensburg – It was shortly after the war when the people of Regensburg took possession of the extinguishing pond on Minoritenweg, in Ostnerwacht, and converted it into a swimming pool.

Today hardly anyone remembers this swimming pool, which was not only a popular meeting place for young and old until the opening of the Wöhrdbad in 1952, but also an important training location for local athletes.

Creation of the Altstadt-Freibad: In the beginning there were grandiose official plans

But the story of how this swimming pool came about was also a bitter one for many Regensburgers.

In the years between 1935 and 1939, the plan was implemented to locate several important government buildings, in particular the new town hall, in the Ostnerwacht.

On the one hand, this decision to locate the seat of the city government and other important authorities here may have been due to the building guidelines plan of the Munich architect and urban planner Otto Lasne.

This plan from the 1920s provided for one of the future main traffic axes for the cathedral city to be built on D.-Martin-Luther-Straße.

Another point: Even before the start of the war, there were initial plans for the Reichsautobahn from Regensburg to Nuremberg, to which there should be a direct connection at Galgenberg.

The hope that the Führer could reach the town hall in such a direct way must have given wings to the plans.

Demolition for government buildings in Regensburg: BVP-NSDAP-CSU politicians had an important role

And so Hans Herrmann, who later became mayor of the CSU in Regensburg, ordered the demolition of several town houses, first as BVP and after the National Socialists took power as NSDAP mayor, in order to make room for these grandiose plans.

In 1935 the construction of the New Town Hall and rooms for the medical column along Minoritenweg and D.-Martin-Luther-Straße began, which was completed a year later.

Several old government buildings and town houses were cleared for this purpose.

In 1937 the police followed suit – since then the three-story police headquarters with its mighty gable roof has stood in the former monastery garden of the Minorite monastery.

Two baroque residential buildings in Fahrbeckgasse had to make way for this.

The new employment office was completed in 1939, for which four houses on Minoritenweg and Kirschgässchen were demolished.

How the Altstadt-Freibad in Regensburg came about: In the beginning there was a fire pond

A now almost faded painting on the outside wall of the police headquarters symbolizes the zeitgeist that made all this possible.

The judiciary with the scales kneels submissively in front of the guard, the executive, who had to submit to everything.

The swastika in the lance pennant was whitewashed after the war.

The picture is still a reminder today.

A fire pond was built on what was then an open space between the medical column and the employment office to protect the newly erected government building, fed by the Stärzenbach stream, which the street name still reminds us of today.

(By the way: Our brand new Regensburg newsletter will keep you regularly informed about all the important stories from the World Heritage city and the Upper Palatinate. Register here.)

Regensburgers turn the fire pond into an outdoor pool - the city discovers a source of income

After the end of the war, the fire pond developed into a bathing establishment for the people of Regensburg.

At that time there were only the river baths on the Regen and Danube - not suitable for swimming training and comparative competitions, which could now take place here in the Minoritenweg.

The people of Regensburg met in large numbers in summer for swimming and in winter for curling and ice skating.

The city quickly recognized the new outdoor pool as a source of income and erected a wooden fence around the pool.

From then on, entry was demanded at the passenger entrance between the building of the medical column and the employment office.

Regensburg's old town outdoor pool only existed until the early 1950s

With the opening of the Wöhrdbad, the swimming pool in Minoritenweg lost its importance.

It became a pond with algae, frogs and tadpoles again before another administrative building was built along the Minoritenweg in 1955/56 and it had to be filled in.

Where the temporary swimming pool used to be, there is now the entrance to the underground car park for the employees of the community center, a few parking spaces and trees.