{"id":632928,"date":"2026-08-12T09:02:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T09:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/632928\/"},"modified":"2026-08-12T09:02:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T09:02:12","slug":"berlin-theatres-new-swimming-pool-gets-locals-debating-ripple-effects-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/632928\/","title":{"rendered":"Berlin theatre\u2019s new swimming pool gets locals debating ripple effects \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The new attraction on Berlin<\/a>\u2019s Rosa Luxemburg Platz is blue, 25m long and an instant hit: a temporary outdoor swimming pool erected in front of the Volksb\u00fchne (People\u2019s Stage).<\/p>\n

The theatre, a severe stone building from 1913, has acquired a reputation in the last decades for its attention-grabbing productions. But Matthias Lilienthal, the theatre\u2019s incoming artistic director, has set a new standard even before the curtain rises on his first season in October. The West Berlin native has attracted headlines \u2013 and won over locals\u2019 hearts \u2013 with what he views as his first, watery \u201cproduction\u201d.<\/p>\n

In addition to the so-called Volksbad \u2013 People\u2019s Pool \u2013 his team has erected a small wooden lido, changing rooms in shipping containers and a kiosk selling chips for \u20ac3.50.<\/p>\n

There is no charge to swim provided you book a slot online, though the first week\u2019s tickets vanished within minutes.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the pool is not its scale, but how it popped up with minimal fuss. And this in Berlin, the city that required eight extra years \u2013 14 in total \u2013 to open its new airport.<\/p>\n

When Lilienthal welcomed the first batch of swimmers, the 66-year-old joked he had finally realised his childhood ambition to be a pool lifeguard. \u201cWe want to send a signal, we are starting here anew … this is a declaration of love to the Berliners,\u201d said Lilienthal, who worked at the Volksb\u00fchne for a decade until 2003 as deputy artistic director.<\/p>\n

In many ways the pool is a realisation of a mantra held throughout his 40-year theatre career: better to do good social work than make bad art. To anyone who wonders what a pool has to do with theatre, Lilienthal points to the chatting people in the queue, the loungers on the deck and the crowd gathered outside to watch the swimmer spectacle. <\/p>\n

Despite a pool depth of just 1.3m, the first swimmers are enthusiastic about this addition to the Berlin summer cityscape. \u201cIt\u2019s very relaxing and a real happening,\u201d said local woman Karla (34), as she completed a few cautious laps. \u201cWe\u2019ve had people from all over the world here who\u2019ve heard about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just as you don\u2019t ask how Peter Pan flies, the important thing about the People\u2019s Pool is not to question the cost \u2013 \u20ac300,000 for eight weeks\u2019 of splashing around \u2013 within earshot of Lilienthal. Asked by one journalist whether it isn\u2019t all a bit decadent, he bristled visibly. The bill for his pool is nothing, he said, compared with the \u20ac27 million Berlin is spending on a new motorway bridge.<\/p>\n

As whataboutism goes, it\u2019s not ideal: the new bridge is replacing a structure that lasted 50 years and carried nearly 200,000 cars daily. The People\u2019s Pool, meanwhile, is open eight hours a day, five days a week and will close on October 1st.<\/p>\n

To deflect the cost questions, Lilienthal has readied an agitprop narrative: the pool as protest against huge cuts to the city\u2019s cultural budget in response to a state budget crisis. Again, not an ideal strategy. Berlin has 36 stages that receive some form of subsidy to help offset ticket prices and make the arts more accessible. <\/p>\n

Alongside opera houses and concert houses, the Volksb\u00fchne is one of the most heavily-subsidised theatres. Last year it attracted about 124,000 visitors, with an average house capacity of 64 per cent. The average ticket price was \u20ac16.60 while the average subsidy per visitor was \u20ac192.40.<\/p>\n

One leading Berlin theatre critic, who asked to remain nameless for reasons that will become obvious, told The Irish Times: \u201cEvery time I see some pretentious nonsense at the Volksb\u00fchne I just wish the box office lady had put the subsidy money in my hand and allowed me instead have a fun night somewhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n

The critic suggests it stretches credibility for a director on a six-figure salary to spend \u20ac300,000 on a pool for eight weeks then complain about a looming \u20ac500,000 budget cut.<\/p>\n

Headlines about the pool are particularly hard for Berlin\u2019s low-income independent artists. Many are struggling after disproportionately high cuts to their small grants, in particular through a \u20ac9 million cut last year to workshop and atelier subsidies. <\/p>\n

Of course, back at the gurgling waters of the Volksbad, none of that matters. At a time of grim events such as the recent Pride parade attack<\/a>, many guests say this pool is very welcome, whatever the price.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Volksb\u00fchne was always avant-garde,\u201d said local man Dirk, bobbing around after his morning swim. \u201cAnd if theatre is about bringing people together, then: mission accomplished.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The new attraction on Berlin\u2019s Rosa Luxemburg Platz is blue, 25m long and an instant hit: a temporary…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":632929,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[41],"tags":[25123,9,10,13,14,6621,6,11,12,15,16,5,7,8,65,66,67],"class_list":["post-632928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","tag-berlin","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-featured-news","tag-featurednews","tag-germany","tag-headlines","tag-latest-news","tag-latestnews","tag-main-news","tag-mainnews","tag-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories","tag-world","tag-world-news","tag-worldnews"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117081731777887882","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=632928"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632928\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/632929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=632928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=632928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=632928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}