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The outdoor swimming pool in Steinau opens on May 14th. Up to 2,000 visitors a day, many from Fulda, can expect 23 degree warm water and a spacious lawn.
Steinau – The temperatures don’t really entice you to visit the outdoor pool yet. But summer is just around the corner – and the employees at the pools in Bergwinkel have been busy preparing for the season for weeks. This also applies to the outdoor swimming pool in Steinau, which will be open daily from Thursday, May 14th.
Steinau is preparing for the outdoor pool season
“The water quality is good,” agree the two chlorine gas fitters who checked the system in the Steinau outdoor pool with the components relevant to chlorination, such as injectors and measurement and control technology for the new season. The two men from a specialist company from Mayen in Rhineland-Palatinate must know. “They haven’t missed the chance to swim for years,” says Frank Schittrigkeit with a laugh. The 57-year-old is a master pool manager and has known the outdoor pool he manages since his early childhood – during which time in the summer he could be found every day in the pool, which was fed by the Steinaubach until it was renovated in the early 1970s.
Opening times and prices
Opening hours
from May 14th: daily 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.; June, July and August: daily 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; September (closing depending on the weather): daily 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Entrance fees
Day tickets: Children and young people from 6 to 17 years and reduction: 2.50 euros; Adults: 5 euros.
Annual tickets: Adults: 100 euros, children and young people from 6 to 17 years and reduction: 50 euros; Discount for children and young people: 25 euros; Family annual ticket: 180 euros;
Ten cards: Children and young people from 6 to 17 years and reduction: 20 euros; Adults: 40 euros
Advance sale: Online for self-printing: steinau.eu; Stationary advance sales: Monday, May 11th and Tuesday, May 12th, 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., Halle am Steines; Please bring your passport photo and appropriate proof for a discount.
This time the two men are quickly out again. The reason: The 15 degrees Celsius water temperature with hardly any warmer air outside is a bit cool. When the pool starts the 2026 season on Ascension Day, bathers will be treated to 23 degree warm water. The water in the paddling pool is even a little warmer, while it is “only” 21.5 degrees in the diving pool.
“In winter the water is lowered by around 40 centimeters. In April we empty the pools for basic cleaning. The steel pools that were installed during the renovation in 2011 are easier to clean than the tiles before,” explains the swimming pool boss. It takes ten days just to fill the 50 by 21 meter swimming pool (competition dimensions) with 1.9 million liters of water. Things used to happen much faster. “Eight days for all pools” would have been enough. However, the overall water consumption was lower. Now the speed is agreed with the water supply of the municipal utilities and controlled accordingly.
Ulmbach outdoor pool
The outdoor pool in Ulmbach is scheduled to reopen at the end of June after five years. The water is currently being let into the pool. The technology will then be tested. Cleaning work, work on the sanitary building and the outdoor facilities are still ongoing.
By the way: While swimming pools are closing in many places across the country, things are looking much better in the East Hesse region. An expert explained the reasons to our newspaper last summer.
As soon as the pools are filled for operation, the technology also has to do its work: “Otherwise the water will quickly turn green. Nobody wants that.” So it is completely renewed at regular intervals and in between filtered and cleaned in huge filter tanks. There are two tanks for each of the two large pools and one for the paddling and diving pools – only the circulation speed is adjusted to the load on the water, for example sweat, urine and saliva.
Some guests come from Fulda
Until the opening, the outdoor areas will also be spruced up – with the help of the city's public works department mowing the lawn – and the paths. Then the rush can begin. Schittrigkeit, who started as a lifeguard at the Steinau outdoor pool in 1993, then passed the exam to become a specialist in swimming pool operations and earned his master's degree in 2002, remembers a “Whitsun weekend many years ago” when around 12,000 visitors were counted in just three days.
He no longer expects such figures, although he is satisfied with the popularity of the outdoor pool – not least because of the out-of-town guests – “many of them with FD license plates” – who generate additional income with their day tickets. On a good day he expects up to 2,000 visitors. “Our large swimming pool and the large lawn ensure that everyone has enough space to swim,” emphasizes Frank Schittrigkeit.
