BERLIN — The Volksbühne theater opened a temporary outdoor swimming pool in front of its entrance on Friday, transforming a central Berlin plaza into a public bathhouse in what its new artistic director calls a protest against the city's crumbling infrastructure.
The 25-metre pool at Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz offers free timed-entry slots booked online, though demand has already outstripped supply for coming days. Artistic director Matthias Lilienthal framed the project as a political statement against the deterioration of public amenities, noting numerous closed or expensive swimming facilities across the capital. The eight-week program includes crawl lessons and synchronized swimming introductions and runs until Oct. 1, when the theater's new season begins.
The project has drawn criticism. The Taxpayers' Federation Berlin called the spending unsustainable, and an SPD lawmaker argued the funds should support smaller venues. The pool costs 300,000 euros from the theater's subsidies, even as the Volksbühne faces a 5.5 percent budget cut.