Chemnitz: Municipal Baths (Stadtbad)

1929 – 1935 (Construction interrupted 1931 – 1934)

Architect: Fred Otto

Mühlenstraße 25-27, Chemnitz

The Chemnitz Municipal Baths were completed in two phases between 1929 and 1935 in the New Building Style to designs by architect Fred Otto.

Chemnitz – The City of Sports

In the 1920s, Chemnitz was able to strengthen its reputation as a sports city. Several large sports facilities were built, including the Altenbahn cycle track and the Südkampfbahn on Reichenhainer Straße.

The construction of the Chemnitz Municipal Indoor Swimming Pool was approved by the city council in 1928 and carried out according to the designs of city planning officer Fred Otto.

It was to replace the Hedwigbad, built in 1866/1867 on what was then Hedwigstraße, which no longer met the needs of the rapidly growing city of Chemnitz.

Site

The site between Schadestraße and Aue, which had been favored in the pre-war period, was no longer an option due to the construction of the Deutsche Bank on Falkeplatz. Among several alternatives, the site of the former Zimmermann factory between Mühlenstraße and Rochlitzer Straße was chosen.

Design

Fred Otto took a new approach to the design. He abolished the customary separation of the sexes, citing the now common practice of bathing together in outdoor pools.

From 1931 to 1934, construction was interrupted by the Great Depression, and the baths were not completed until 1935.

Pools

Fred Otto built a large multipurpose pool with a 50-meter lane and a smaller school pool with diving facilities. The fifty-meter-long indoor pool is lit by a full-surface louvered skylight.

All the rooms intended for visitors, except the school swimming pool, are directly accessible from the entrance hall.

Annexe

The two separate areas for sweat baths and medical baths for men and women develop symmetrically along a secondary axis leading from the entrance hall to the west, with the baths above.

The complex also included administrative offices, a laundry, a barber shop, a restaurant, and staff housing.

Neue Sachlichkeit / New Building Style

Although the complex was kept functional in the New Building style, the architect succeeded in creating movement through the strong structure of the cubic building elements.

In 1927, the architect wrote: “The type of mass grouping in conjunction with the choice of building materials (shell limestone or similar stone material on the exterior) promises a characteristic building which, while dispensing with the quickly fading fashionable ornamentation, breathes a modern spirit and blends harmoniously into its surroundings in terms of urban planning”.

The shell limestone cladding on the facade was later substituted by plaster for cost reasons.

On-site Art

Dresden sculptor Georg Türke created the ceramic clock in the great hall.

On the forecourt, sculptor Bruno Ziegler created the bronze animal groups at the base of the flagpoles. They depict groups of various aquatic animals – geese, beavers, otters and great crested grebes.

Renovation

The building was renovated between 1981 and 1983. In 1984, the architect Karl-Heinz Barth was awarded the Architecture Prize of the German Democratic Republic and the Schinkel Medal of the Association of Architects of the GDR.

Further step-by-step renovations were carried out after 1990.