Elsebad

The Elsebad is a volunteer-run outdoor swimming pool in the Ergste district of Schwerte. It sits beside the Elsebach stream, which once filled its pool. The original baths opened in 1939 after local firms and the Reichsarbeitsdienst helped build them.

The baths closed in 1993 despite protests, but citizens forced a rethink through the first successful citizen initiative in North Rhine-Westphalia. The Landesregierung later honoured the project as a model of sustainable community policy. Today the pool relies on over a hundred volunteers and draws eighty to a hundred thousand visitors each summer.

Visitors find a 50-metre stainless-steel pool, a children’s splash area under a shade sail, and a four-hectare lawn. There are two beach-volleyball courts, a handball pitch, and a snack kiosk. Nearby stands the Spieldorf Argeste, where children act out historical scenes. The stream still flows on both sides of the site.