Strandbad Wannsee
Encyclopedia
The Strandbad Wannsee is an open-air lido
on the eastern shore of the Wannsee
in Berlin
, Germany, the largest inland lido in Europe, with a beach that is 1,275 metres long and 80 metres wide, widened with sand from the German shore of the Baltic Sea
. The entire ensemble is listed as Cultural Heritage site. It is located on the eastern shore of the lake in the locality of Wannsee
, in Steglitz-Zehlendorf
borough, in southwestern Berlin.
The premises cover about 355,000 m², 130,000 of which is water, and 60,000m² are for sunbathing, and a park. The facilities provide the famous beach, including a separate nudist-section, Strandkorb
s, a slide at the end of the shallower water area as well as playground, park and a promenade that was a prominent part of the historical plans for the establishment.
district, then the cognisant authority, gave in to public pressure and officially allowed bathing on a 200-metre stretch of beach. Conduct was strictly regulated, down to details of dress laid down by police regulation. In 1909, a lease was signed between the royal government and a merchant Frankenthal from Nikolassee
. The "Freibad Wannsee", as it was named, then consisted of one beach each for men and women, both 65 metres in length, separated by the family section that offered 350 metres of beach. The sections were separated with wooden fences. Tents, erected at the foot of the steeper incline towards the forest
served as changing facilities, according to sections, and booths and mobile vendors provided services. The whole area was surrounded by fences to discourage those merely wanting to watch the proceedings. With the signing of the lease, use of the facilities required paying of a fee.
After the First World War
, the importance of the lido at the Wannsee increased, not only among the people of Berlin, but also in surrounding communities. After the lease ended, the municipality of Berlin took over, and the business became part of the municipal forest service, due to the location in the Grunewald
. In the same year, 1924, the tents were replaced by thatched pavillons, and the sanitary facilities, lacking up until then, were improved. The area was expanded to 800 metres and was open year-round, making the facilities available to winter bathers and skaters. Attendance increased, especially after the S-Bahn
from nearby Potsdam
to Erkner
was opened. One year counted 900.000 visitors.
Nearby stations Nikolassee and Wannsee eased access to the beach, and the existing facilities were no longer sufficient. Plans to erect a permanent building at the site had come up as early as 1910, by Martin Wagner, later municipal construction director, but had been delayed due to the First World War. Now, the municipality of Berlin tasked the same Martin Wagner and colleague Richard Ermisch
, both employees of the city and experienced in public building, with planning a large scale improvement project. While Wagner was responsible for the whole ensemble and it's arrangement, Ermisch took care of the architecture. Construction commenced in 1929, and opening of the new buildings was already one year later, in 1930.
The Great Depression
compromised the execution of the plans Wagner and Ermisch had come up with. Initially, the budget had been a sum of 5 million Reichsmark
(RM) that was supposed to have been spent on an additional five of the two-storeyed halls, as well as a large, circular main restaurant, a pier with a café on it, a marina and an open air theater. Furthermore, a medicinal bath, a kindergarten and a pension had been thought of. Of all that, only the existing four-structure complex was realized, and only after the maior visited the site to see that most of the reduced project had already been built and would not require much further work. In the end, about 2 million Reichsmark were spent.
In the years that followed, attendances reached record highs, as Berliners wanted to see their new public bath. On the other hand, with Nazism growing, fights between various political groups, as well as the staff, damaged the reputation of the lido as well as that of the director, Hermann Clajus, who had been in this position since 1926 and was responsible for the continued development of the site. The Nazis especially disliked the "un-german" architecture. A sign forbidding Jews to access the premises disappeared during the Olympics in 1936, but from 1938 on, Jews were by law prohibited to enter. The non-nazi staff was replaced by party members, and entertainment was provided by bands of the Wehrmacht
and the SA
. In 1935, the communal corporation that had conducted business since 1926 was disbanded, and management of the business first went into responsibility of borough of Wilmersdorf
, then, after an administrative reform in 1937, that of Zehlendorf
.
During the Second World War
, the lido provided welcome relief during dark times to the Berlin population that was still allowed to use it. Attendance still reached 425000 in 1944. Luckily, the buildings were not destroyed during the war.
As then, after the war the place provided an escape from devastation and debris. In 1947, again 615000 people pay their fee, and in 1951, Conny Froboess
sang 'Pack die Badehose ein' (literally 'Pack your swimming trunks), one of the great hits of that time.
Rarely during its existence had the lido to close. Some closures occurred during the Berlin Blockade, when due to power outages the waste pumps had to shut off and the waste would have soiled the lake. Later, in 1952, the danger presented by live gunfire from a nearby US-forces shooting range caused another closure.
In later years, attendance dropped. New public baths competed for attention, the buildings deteriorated, increasing wealth allowed citizens to travel further than just to the Wannsee, and finally public transport by bus ceased, forcing people to walk from Nikolassee station or to compete for a lot in the limited parking area. In 2004, under the management of the Stiftung Denkmalschutz Berlin, restoration of the buildings and infrastructure began with the declared goal of restoring conditions to the original as accurately as possible and updating the antiquated equipment. The restoration included the recreation of the forecourt in front of the entrance to the lido. As the whole ensemble is listed, and not just the building, maintenance requires not only care for the construction, but also for the surrounding open and forest areas. Due to financial restraints, not all of the buildings have been fully restored: notably the former restaurant, aptly named "Lido", is still in its old derelict state.
. This called for simple, functional and unadorned structures and aesthetics deriving from the materials that were used rather than ornaments. For the Strandbad Wannsee, preferred material for facades is yellow clinker
, the bricks lending the complex its characteristic hue.
The complex consists of four large two-storeyed buildings, arranged in a row along and close to the hill flank parallel to the beach line. Construction is steel framework filled with clinker. The row of uniform structures is articulated by staircases between the individual buildings. They are connected by a closed-roof colonnade in front of them, providing a view of the lake and river. The roofs could be used as sun terraces. From a small balcony on that colonnade, lost children were announced before the invention of public address systems. Originally, the showers were located on the roof of the colonnade as well.
In the 1930s, a restaurant on the premises, called "Wannseeterrassen" (Wannsee terraces) was ejected in a manner that intentionally contrasted the modern designs by Ermisch with a more traditionally styled structure.
Lido
The Lido is an 11 km long sandbar located in Venice, northern Italy, home to about 20,000 residents. The Venice Film Festival takes place at the Lido every September.-Geography:...
on the eastern shore of the Wannsee
Großer Wannsee
The Großer Wannsee is a bight of the Havel river near the locality of Wannsee and Nikolassee , a south-western suburb of the German capital Berlin not far from Potsdam...
in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Germany, the largest inland lido in Europe, with a beach that is 1,275 metres long and 80 metres wide, widened with sand from the German shore of the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
. The entire ensemble is listed as Cultural Heritage site. It is located on the eastern shore of the lake in the locality of Wannsee
Wannsee
Wannsee is a locality in the southwestern Berlin borough of Steglitz-Zehlendorf, Germany. It is the westernmost locality of Berlin. In the quarter there are two lakes, the larger Großer Wannsee and the Kleiner Wannsee , are located on the river Havel and are separated only by the Wannsee bridge...
, in Steglitz-Zehlendorf
Steglitz-Zehlendorf
Steglitz-Zehlendorf is the sixth borough of Berlin, formed in Berlin's 2001 administrative reform by merging the former boroughs of Steglitz and Zehlendorf.-Demographics:...
borough, in southwestern Berlin.
The premises cover about 355,000 m², 130,000 of which is water, and 60,000m² are for sunbathing, and a park. The facilities provide the famous beach, including a separate nudist-section, Strandkorb
Strandkorb
A strandkorb is a special chair designed to provide comfort and protection from sun, wind, rain, and sand on beaches frequented by tourists....
s, a slide at the end of the shallower water area as well as playground, park and a promenade that was a prominent part of the historical plans for the establishment.
History
Origins of the lido date back to the early 1900s. Berlin experienced immense growth, both in population and in building. Large housing projects were planned and realized, cramping the working population close together in small flats, with little light and less fresh air. Consequently, people tried to escape when their life allowed. Preferred places of escape were the lakes in the vicinity. Especially suitable was the Greater Wannsee, with its broad and shallow, sandy eastern shore. Owing to the moral standards of the time, public bathing, especially with women and men in plain sight of each other, was illegal. In 1907, the administration of TeltowTeltow
Teltow is a town in the Potsdam-Mittelmark district, in Brandenburg, Germany.-Geography:Teltow is part of the agglomeration of Berlin. The distance to the Berlin city centre is , while the distance to Potsdam is ....
district, then the cognisant authority, gave in to public pressure and officially allowed bathing on a 200-metre stretch of beach. Conduct was strictly regulated, down to details of dress laid down by police regulation. In 1909, a lease was signed between the royal government and a merchant Frankenthal from Nikolassee
Nikolassee
Nikolassee is a locality of Berlin in the borough of Steglitz-Zehlendorf. Until the latter was created in 2001, Nikolassee was part of the borough of Zehlendorf.-History:...
. The "Freibad Wannsee", as it was named, then consisted of one beach each for men and women, both 65 metres in length, separated by the family section that offered 350 metres of beach. The sections were separated with wooden fences. Tents, erected at the foot of the steeper incline towards the forest
Grunewald (forest)
Grunewald is a German forest located in the western side of Berlin on the east side of the Havel, mainly in the Grunewald district...
served as changing facilities, according to sections, and booths and mobile vendors provided services. The whole area was surrounded by fences to discourage those merely wanting to watch the proceedings. With the signing of the lease, use of the facilities required paying of a fee.
After the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the importance of the lido at the Wannsee increased, not only among the people of Berlin, but also in surrounding communities. After the lease ended, the municipality of Berlin took over, and the business became part of the municipal forest service, due to the location in the Grunewald
Grunewald (forest)
Grunewald is a German forest located in the western side of Berlin on the east side of the Havel, mainly in the Grunewald district...
. In the same year, 1924, the tents were replaced by thatched pavillons, and the sanitary facilities, lacking up until then, were improved. The area was expanded to 800 metres and was open year-round, making the facilities available to winter bathers and skaters. Attendance increased, especially after the S-Bahn
S-Bahn
S-Bahn refers to an often combined city center and suburban railway system metro in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Denmark...
from nearby Potsdam
Potsdam
Potsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel, southwest of Berlin city centre....
to Erkner
Erkner
-Geography:It is situated on the river Spree, 23 km west of Fürstenwalde, and directly on the border to Berlin-Rahnsdorf....
was opened. One year counted 900.000 visitors.
Nearby stations Nikolassee and Wannsee eased access to the beach, and the existing facilities were no longer sufficient. Plans to erect a permanent building at the site had come up as early as 1910, by Martin Wagner, later municipal construction director, but had been delayed due to the First World War. Now, the municipality of Berlin tasked the same Martin Wagner and colleague Richard Ermisch
Richard Ermisch
Richard Ermisch was a German architect, painter and graphic designer. From 1903 to 1906, he attended the 'Königliche Preußische Baugewerkschule' at Erfurt...
, both employees of the city and experienced in public building, with planning a large scale improvement project. While Wagner was responsible for the whole ensemble and it's arrangement, Ermisch took care of the architecture. Construction commenced in 1929, and opening of the new buildings was already one year later, in 1930.
The Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
compromised the execution of the plans Wagner and Ermisch had come up with. Initially, the budget had been a sum of 5 million Reichsmark
German reichsmark
The Reichsmark was the currency in Germany from 1924 until June 20, 1948. The Reichsmark was subdivided into 100 Reichspfennig.-History:...
(RM) that was supposed to have been spent on an additional five of the two-storeyed halls, as well as a large, circular main restaurant, a pier with a café on it, a marina and an open air theater. Furthermore, a medicinal bath, a kindergarten and a pension had been thought of. Of all that, only the existing four-structure complex was realized, and only after the maior visited the site to see that most of the reduced project had already been built and would not require much further work. In the end, about 2 million Reichsmark were spent.
In the years that followed, attendances reached record highs, as Berliners wanted to see their new public bath. On the other hand, with Nazism growing, fights between various political groups, as well as the staff, damaged the reputation of the lido as well as that of the director, Hermann Clajus, who had been in this position since 1926 and was responsible for the continued development of the site. The Nazis especially disliked the "un-german" architecture. A sign forbidding Jews to access the premises disappeared during the Olympics in 1936, but from 1938 on, Jews were by law prohibited to enter. The non-nazi staff was replaced by party members, and entertainment was provided by bands of the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
and the SA
Sturmabteilung
The Sturmabteilung functioned as a paramilitary organization of the National Socialist German Workers' Party . It played a key role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s...
. In 1935, the communal corporation that had conducted business since 1926 was disbanded, and management of the business first went into responsibility of borough of Wilmersdorf
Wilmersdorf
Wilmersdorf is an inner city locality of Berlin, formerly a borough by itself but since Berlin's 2001 administrative reform a part of the new borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf.-History:...
, then, after an administrative reform in 1937, that of Zehlendorf
Zehlendorf (Berlin)
Zehlendorf is a locality within the borough of Steglitz-Zehlendorf in Berlin. Before Berlin's 2001 administrative reform Zehlendorf was a borough in its own right, consisting of the locality of Zehlendorf as well as Wannsee, Nikolassee and Dahlem...
.
During the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the lido provided welcome relief during dark times to the Berlin population that was still allowed to use it. Attendance still reached 425000 in 1944. Luckily, the buildings were not destroyed during the war.
As then, after the war the place provided an escape from devastation and debris. In 1947, again 615000 people pay their fee, and in 1951, Conny Froboess
Cornelia Froboess
Cornelia Froboess is a German actress and a teen idol of the 1950s and early 1960s. During that time, Froboess appeared in many musical films, especially after the rock and roll wave had hit Germany...
sang 'Pack die Badehose ein' (literally 'Pack your swimming trunks), one of the great hits of that time.
Rarely during its existence had the lido to close. Some closures occurred during the Berlin Blockade, when due to power outages the waste pumps had to shut off and the waste would have soiled the lake. Later, in 1952, the danger presented by live gunfire from a nearby US-forces shooting range caused another closure.
In later years, attendance dropped. New public baths competed for attention, the buildings deteriorated, increasing wealth allowed citizens to travel further than just to the Wannsee, and finally public transport by bus ceased, forcing people to walk from Nikolassee station or to compete for a lot in the limited parking area. In 2004, under the management of the Stiftung Denkmalschutz Berlin, restoration of the buildings and infrastructure began with the declared goal of restoring conditions to the original as accurately as possible and updating the antiquated equipment. The restoration included the recreation of the forecourt in front of the entrance to the lido. As the whole ensemble is listed, and not just the building, maintenance requires not only care for the construction, but also for the surrounding open and forest areas. Due to financial restraints, not all of the buildings have been fully restored: notably the former restaurant, aptly named "Lido", is still in its old derelict state.
Buildings
The buildings that R. Ermisch planned in the late 1920s were built in the style of New ObjectivityNew Objectivity (architecture)
The New Objectivity is a name often given to the Modern architecture that emerged in Europe, primarily German-speaking Europe, in the 1920s and 30s. It is also frequently called Neues Bauen...
. This called for simple, functional and unadorned structures and aesthetics deriving from the materials that were used rather than ornaments. For the Strandbad Wannsee, preferred material for facades is yellow clinker
Clinker brick
Clinker bricks are partially vitrified brick stones used in the construction of buildings.Clinkers are burnt under temperatures so high that the pores of the fuel property are closed by the beginning sinter process. Thus they are considerably denser and therefore heavier than regular bricks...
, the bricks lending the complex its characteristic hue.
The complex consists of four large two-storeyed buildings, arranged in a row along and close to the hill flank parallel to the beach line. Construction is steel framework filled with clinker. The row of uniform structures is articulated by staircases between the individual buildings. They are connected by a closed-roof colonnade in front of them, providing a view of the lake and river. The roofs could be used as sun terraces. From a small balcony on that colonnade, lost children were announced before the invention of public address systems. Originally, the showers were located on the roof of the colonnade as well.
In the 1930s, a restaurant on the premises, called "Wannseeterrassen" (Wannsee terraces) was ejected in a manner that intentionally contrasted the modern designs by Ermisch with a more traditionally styled structure.