Treading water and doing something for your health – this option has been available for 32 years at the dr.-walter-langer-strabe between ketschendorf and seidmannsdorf. In 1988, the kneipp basin was put into operation on the walking and biking path between the two parts of the city, but from the beginning, it became apparent that the location was not ideal. During heavy rains, soil is regularly spooled onto the facility and into the pool from a high, sloping field. Only in 2019 did a huge load of sludge have to be removed again.
The kneipp- und naturheilverein coburg is responsible for keeping the pool clean. This has been contractually agreed with the city. But the association is not in a position to do this, says its chairwoman dorothea schaal. That’s why there has long been a desire for a better location.
2021 now offers a great opportunity for this, as dorothea schaal thinks. The bavarian ministry of economics has made a donation for the "kneipp year" (on the occasion of the 200. (on the occasion of sebastian kneipp’s 50th birthday) the special program "tourist infrastructure – kneipp facilities" hung up. The demand program is intended to support municipalities in the construction, expansion or modernization of kneipp facilities.
Dorothea schaal did not want to let this opportunity pass by. She immediately forwarded the message she had received from the kneipp association to the relevant offices of the city of coburg: mayor dominik sauerteig received the letter, as did the head of the green space office bernhard ledermann, the city marketing and the suc. The amount of the claim depends on how much money the respective municipality invests in a kneipp facility. Ten percent of the sum must be financed from the association’s own funds. To be considered, the application must be submitted by november 30. November 2020 from the municipality.
Again and again "muddy
In the meantime, dorothea schaal has been informed by the mayor’s office that the letter has been received and that it has been forwarded to the land office. Its director, bernhard ledermann, knows the situation at the ketschendorf kneipp basin very well, says dorothea schaal. After all, it is the grunflachenamt that ultimately has to clean up the "muddy" pools exposed again and again.
"We permanently have the dirt, says dorothea schaal. "We had to clean much more often, but I just don’t have anyone who can do it – and a janitorial service costs a lot of money." Besides the dirt also the algae in the pool are a problem. Although it is fed with flowing water from the ketschenbach, as is appropriate for kneipp facilities, the algae cannot be contained.
In short, ledermann knows her wish for a different location and also agrees with her, says schaal. She has already talked to him about the ketschendorf castle park as a possible location. One advantage would be that the parks department and the city cleaning service would be responsible for it.
Why not in the city center?
It would also be conceivable to locate a kneipp pool in the area of the post office, i.E. Directly in the city center, says dorothea schaal – an idea from the city’s marketing department. The hahn river flows through there in pipes under the lohgraben. "If one became the open, one could get fresh water from there." Other imaginable locations were also the itz-ufer (which was eager to be redesigned anyway) or the guterbahnhof, says dorothea schaal. Another variant would be a natural kneipp facility built directly in a fliegend watercourse. A wonderful example of this is the kneipp facility in the spa gardens of bad alexandersbad in the fichtelgebirge mountains.
She now hopes that the city will develop a plan to benefit from the demand program. Schaal: "in any case, i would be very happy to read in the coburg media in the near future, with the support of the special program, the headline ‘representative kneipp facility in a beautiful location put into operation by the city of coburg’."