Stadtbad Oderberger Straße

The Stadtbad Prenzlauer Berg stands in Berlin’s Oderberger Straße, a former public bathhouse opened in 1902. Designed by city architect Ludwig Hoffmann in the Neorenaissance style, it once featured decorative sculptures by Otto Lessing. After decades as a social hub where many learnt to swim, the building closed in 1986 because a concrete chimney had weakened its structure. It spent years empty or hosting events before a long restoration returned it to use. The revival shows how a community fought to save a landmark. A local cooperative bought the site in 2002, but financing stalled until the GLS language school took over in 2011. Experts removed later additions, removed tonnes of rubbish, and repaired the pool and roof with public grants totalling more than one million euros. The project cost about eighteen million euros in all and earned the owners a heritage medal. Visitors now find a working pool with a moveable floor that doubles as a dance floor for up to eight hundred people. A small spa area offers sauna, relaxation zones and showers beside the original tiled pool. Above, a hotel has seventy rooms, including suites in the former water towers, decorated with historic fittings and photographs of pools worldwide. A restaurant, bar, conference rooms and a fireplace lounge complete the mix, while the surrounding streets keep the lively feel of Prenzlauer Berg.