Swimming Pool Closures
For FAZ, Germany, 02/2026
For FAZ, Germany, 02/2026
As public indoor pools continue to close across Germany, swimming lessons are becoming harder to provide.
In Oberschleißheim, near Munich, schoolchildren still learn to swim in a municipal pool whose future is uncertain because the town struggles to cover its yearly operating deficit.
In Wielenbach, a village without its own pool, a mobile swimming container has been installed near the school, allowing children to practice more regularly without long bus rides to another town.
The project looks at how two communities are trying to keep swimming lessons possible as public infrastructure comes under pressure – and what that means for the future and safety of their children.
In Oberschleißheim, near Munich, schoolchildren still learn to swim in a municipal pool whose future is uncertain because the town struggles to cover its yearly operating deficit.
In Wielenbach, a village without its own pool, a mobile swimming container has been installed near the school, allowing children to practice more regularly without long bus rides to another town.
The project looks at how two communities are trying to keep swimming lessons possible as public infrastructure comes under pressure – and what that means for the future and safety of their children.
1/10 The municipal indoor pool in Oberschleißheim, built in 1972, is used by schools from the surrounding area for swimming lessons. Its future has been uncertain because the town struggles to cover an annual operating deficit of around 500,000 euros.
2/10 Oberschleißheim’s mayor Markus Böck learned to swim in the town’s indoor pool himself. He says losing it would be a “catastrophe” for the community.
3/10 Claudia Miller, principal of the Berglwaldschule in Oberschleißheim. She says that around 20 percent of pupils in the third and fourth grades cannot swim.
4/10 Inside the Swim Salabim container in Wielenbach. The mobile pool gives local schoolchildren more regular swimming lessons without having to travel by bus to a neighboring town.
5/10 Michaela Beel, principal of the primary school in Wielenbach. With the Swim Salabim container placed near the school, children can spend more time in the water instead of losing time on bus rides to a neighboring town.
6/10 A restricted-access warning sign for the chlorination system on the Swim Salabim container in Wielenbach. For smaller villages, such mobile pools can be a flexible solution because they require less space and infrastructure than a permanent indoor pool.
7/10 Josef Riedl, swimming-pool supervisor in Oberschleißheim, has worked at the indoor pool for ten years. If the pool closes, his job is also at risk.
8/10 The indoor pool in Oberschleißheim serves not only local schools, but also users from across the surrounding area, including clubs, the DLRG and the federal police.
9/10 Five swimming lanes at the Oberschleißheim indoor pool. With nearby pools closed or unavailable, schools, clubs and other groups from the surrounding area depend on the facility for lessons and training.
10/10 A decorative fountain at the Berglwaldschule in Oberschleißheim. Losing the nearby indoor pool would make it much harder, perhaps even impossible, for the school to provide regular swimming lessons.