Once the "Pearl of the Porphyry Rocks," the Bergbad Petersberg was a bustling summer sanctuary for thousands. Today, the turquoise waters have been replaced by a silent, growing forest and rusting skeletons of a bygone era.
Where children once splashed, nature is now reclaiming the crumbling basins and graffiti-covered ruins. Discover the haunting story of a beloved pool that went into a winter break twenty years ago - and never woke up.
In the late 60s, one of the region's most beautiful outdoor swimming pools opened on Petersberg near Halle. Due to a lack of funds, the pool closed 20 years ago – temporarily. That closure became permanent. To this day, the remains of the swimming pools are visible in satellite images.
The outdoor pool
No one seriously expected it to be a permanent closure. Back then, when the outdoor pool on the southern slope of the 250-meter-high hill near Halle in Eastern Germany closed its doors, the Petersberg mountain pool was only short 30,000 or perhaps 50,000 euros, which someone would have had to cover.
Not a lot of money for a recreational facility that, for more than 30 years, had become one of the most popular destinations not only for families from the immediate vicinity but also for swimmers from the city of Halle, 15 kilometers away.
A Pearl on porphyr cliffs
But those few marks were just too much. The municipality had already been subsidizing it for several years, but now it was over. The "pearl nestled among porphyry cliffs," as it had been hailed at its opening in July 1968, went into winter hibernation at the end of a summer at the beginning of the new millennium, a hiatus that has never ended since.
In the two decades since, the summer paradise has transformed into a wasteland. The former kiosk is a dilapidated shack covered in clumsy graffiti. The changing rooms serve as storage for abandoned ping-pong tables, chairs, buckets, and tables. Visitors have added mountains of trash. Strollers, car seats, coffee makers, and old window frames rot under roofs that are no longer watertight.
An old Coca Cola sign
The lettering on the Coca-Cola sign, likely installed around the time of German reunification, has faded beyond recognition, and the vending machine is a skeleton of rusted sheet metal. The ceramic fixtures in the restrooms are shattered, and abandoned furniture is either trampled or swollen with damp.
There have been a handful of attempts to find a new operator or even an investor for the idyllic open-air swimming pool located near the zoo and museum, which, as it was described when the Bergbad opened its doors to the public, was "designed by bold men and built by many volunteers."
Nestled in an old millrace, "a charming local recreation center had been created, one that is second to none," as the daily newspaper "Freiheit" described it in 1968.
Under fallen trees
The reason for the praise is still evident today. The terrain slopes gently down behind the entrance, between the changing rooms, to the three swimming pools. Trees have fallen across the main path, and wild rose bushes have taken over.
Where, during the GDR era, up to 200,000 bathers annually swam in the cool 18-degree water, sunbathed on the lawns, and where summer camps for children were held, today it's all a wild, overgrown habitat. Benches and the beach volleyball court are overgrown, and moss grows on the steps and starting blocks.
A massage table
In the middle of the large pool, trees have pushed their way through the plastic liner. In the small forest that has sprouted from the bright blue foil, an abandoned lawnmower stands next to a well-preserved massage table. The "Swimmers Only" warning is faded and barely legible.
Two decades of being left high and dry have taken their toll. The Petersberg outdoor swimming pool, advertised on weathered posters in a dilapidated barracks as the "Petersberg Water Park" offering "swimming fun daily from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.", now only appears invitingly blue in aerial photos on Google Maps, where it is marked "Closed – Lost Place."
This contrasts with the official map of the municipality's attractions, which lists the site as an unnamed gray blob.
