
The sports clubs in Fulda have been complaining about strained hall capacities for a long time. Because the Gellingshalle needs to be renovated in the coming years, there is a risk of an extreme bottleneck. Would a mobile air dome solve the problems?
Fulda – Harald “Harry” Piaskowski stands in the Germanic hermitage of FSV Germania Fulda and takes a deep breath. “I’m afraid of this day,” says the chairman of the Fulda city sports association.” What Piaskowski means? The day on which the aging Heinrich Gellings Hall is renovated – and that already strained hall capacity in the baroque city is put to the test.
Sports clubs in Fulda complain about strained hall capacities
It is not yet clear when exactly this day will come. However, plans are already underway to determine how the loss of the Gellingshalle will be compensated for – at least in part. A new Zweiderhalle is to be built on the grounds of the Freiherr vom Stein School.
“In our opinion, this new hall will enable us to use this hall and renovate the Gellingshalle when the new hall is there and the old auditorium of the Stein School has not yet been demolished,” says Dag Wehner (CDU), mayor and head of the sports department of the city of Fulda.
Wehner was not yet able to give a timetable, but “structural implementation is not expected before 2028 or 2029”. For Piaskowski, however, it is clear: a new hall will not solve the bottleneck in Fulda sports. “We need a real gymnasium and of course another one, perhaps a cold sports hall, especially for ball sports who want to do indoor training in winter,” says Piaskowski, who is a fan of a mobile air dome.
Such a solution is probably not an option for Wehner. “If you look at the sports that are currently being played in the Gellingshalle, then I don’t think it can really be done in a mobile hall,” Wehner points out, asking whether air domes are made for sports halls such as handball or basketball. There are also special requirements for sports floors and heating.
Air domes create excitement
Piaskowski has already gotten an idea of such mobile halls – and is thrilled. “There are air domes that are completely self-sufficient. There are lots and lots of things. You have to get ideas and they have to be planned here,” demands the chairman of the sports association of the city of Fulda. And: “These halls only cost a third of a permanent building.”
At the general meeting of the sports association of the city of Fulda on Wednesday evening (April 22nd) at FSV Germania Fulda, 50 of the 82 member clubs were present. In addition to the “perennial favorite” of hall occupancy, the focus was on planning for the event Hesse day (June 12th to 26th), where sport will be presented on 5,900 square meters as part of the “Festival of Sports” in the area of the stadium and the Fulda floodplains.
Another topic was the various funding opportunities. According to Piaskowski, they are only used insufficiently. An example: There would be 1.5 million euros in the club accounts of the State Sports Association (lsb h) that clubs in the Fulda-Hünfeld sports district would not have used.
It was only recently announced that the “Fulda Cup” would take place on Hessentag – the football tournament for Fulda schools and people with disabilities.





