Medi Therme Bochum

The Medi Therme Bochum sits in the Ruhr Park shopping centre on the edge of the city. It occupies the shell of a former leisure pool called the Aquadrom, which opened in 1987 as one of Germany’s first large fun pools. The project was masterminded by the Pforzheim banker Heinz Steinhart, who planned thirty similar sites with an investment volume of two to three billion marks. Political figures welcomed the scheme, and the federal chancellor even sent a letter of encouragement in June 1987. Yet financial irregularities soon appeared, and by 1988 the bank behind the venture was closed. Steinhart was later sentenced to six years and nine months in prison for fraud and breach of trust. The original complex drew crowds to its high-speed water slides, but it also required about a hundred emergency calls every year. Two people died and one visitor suffered permanent paralysis. By the end of 2000 the building showed serious decay, with rotting wooden ceiling beams, and a full refurbishment was estimated at 6.5 million marks. Plans for reopening were announced in January 2001, yet the company filed for insolvency the very next day. All 43 permanent staff and numerous part-time workers lost their jobs. Today the Medi Therme offers thirteen different saunas and indoor and outdoor pools. Only the old slide tower remains from the Aquadrom era. The Medi Spa GmbH runs the tranquil facility, where visitors can move between steam rooms, infrared cabins and outdoor plunge pools. The surrounding Ruhr Park provides cafés and shops, so a visit can easily be combined with a day of shopping.