The Volksbühne has installed a temporary 25-metre pool called the Volksbad in the square outside the theatre. Admission is free with timed tickets, lifeguards are on duty, and the installation cost about €300,000 to set up and operate. Artistic director Matthias Lilienthal frames the pool partly as a protest about deteriorating public infrastructure and as a way to draw new visitors; critics say funds might be better spent on smaller venues. The pool can host 46 swimmers at once and is expected to welcome nearly 20,000 visitors before closing in October.
Berlin’s Volksbühne Turns Its Square Into A 25m Public Pool — The 'Volksbad' Sparks Debate
Lifeguards Helena and Donate swim in the public pool in front of the Volksbühne theatre at Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz. The new artistic director, Lilienthal, is opening the season with Volksbad. The pool is scheduled to remain open through October. (is associated with: «Making a splash: Famed Berlin theatre opens pool outside its doors») Soeren Stache/dpa
The Volksbühne theatre in central Berlin has installed a temporary 25-metre pool, dubbed the Volksbad, in the square outside the building, inviting residents to swim in front of one of the city’s best-known cultural institutions.
Artistic director Matthias Lilienthal said the installation has quickly become a topic of lively discussion across the capital. He described the project as part social experiment, part political statement — highlighting problems with the city’s public infrastructure, from pools and schools to transport.
“For the past two weeks, the city has talked about nothing else but whether the pool is a brilliant idea or completely stupid,” Lilienthal told dpa. He also recalled a sceptic who called him “completely nuts” — then admitted she loved the pool after trying it.
The temporary Volksbad opened on a Friday and cost the theatre about €300,000 ($346,000) to install and operate — roughly the cost of a major production. Admission is free; visitors can reserve timed tickets online up to three days in advance. Lifeguards are on duty, changing rooms have been installed and a food stand serves swimmers and passersby.
The pool holds up to 46 swimmers at a time and organisers expect it to draw nearly 20,000 visitors before it closes in October. Lilienthal organised the project while renovations continue on the theatre’s overhead stage machinery, using the square as an alternative site for public engagement ahead of his first official season in October.
Not everyone supports the expenditure. Berlin state lawmaker Dunja Wolff of the centre-left Social Democrats criticised the initiative amid tight cultural budgets, saying she would have preferred funding be channelled to smaller venues — particularly children’s and youth theatres.
The pool concept was inspired by performance artist Florentina Holzinger, who staged a pool-based work, “Ophelia’s Got Talent,” at the Volksbühne and is currently representing Austria at the Venice Biennale. Holzinger is scheduled to return for an event marking the end of the pool season, with details to follow.
The Volksbühne, long known for provocative and experimental productions under former director Frank Castorf, says the Volksbad is intended to welcome neighbours, attract people who might not normally visit the theatre, and spark conversation about public space and civic services.
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