Floating Swimming Pool

This is the Badeschiff or "bathing ship" in Berlin, Germany - an old barge or cargo container which has been converted into an outdoor swimming pool. Beached on the shoreline in the East Harbour section of the River Spree, the Badeschiff allows citizens to swim in a safe and sanitary environment in their river, at least in a figurative sense. The Spree itself is far too polluted to permit safe bathing.

The Badeschiff opened in the summer of 2004 as an art project organized by the Stadtkunstprojekte (City Art Project Society) of Berlin. It was created by local artist, Susanne Lorenz, to enliven city life along the long-neglected Spree. The facilities have proved highly popular as it has allowed Berliners to swim (at least in a figurative sense), in the long polluted and unsanitary Spree.

The 32 metre-long pool also has a bar with DJs until midnight. Disc jockeys commonly spin records outside the pool entrance where there is also a bar. It is open to the public daily from 8am to midnight and even open all-year-round.