14 months was too

Great joy: luxury pool finally open again

The 5S class from Doppler-Gymnasium was one of the first guests. The diving boards were immediately firmly in their hands.

(Bild: Markus Tschepp)

It's open again! On Monday, bathers were finally allowed back into the 60 million euro Paracelusbad. Salzburg schoolchildren in particular suffered from the 14-month closure. 

"Cool!" shouted Emma, Kaya and Leonardo before they took off from the diving tower. They enjoyed the freshly filled pools of the Paracelsusbad on Monday morning. The Salzburg Pannenbad had been closed since July 2023 due to construction defects and imminent danger. School swimming experienced a dry spell.

Opening only temporary
The pool will now remain open for a few months, then close again for months while the ceiling is renovated. A net was attached under the ceiling construction to prevent hazards. The complicated construction, legal issues and bureaucracy meant that everything was at a standstill for months. 

Many children and young people hardly got to swim outside of the summer months. This made them all the more happy in the high halls in the Kurgarten. They were able to swim crawl, breaststroke and backstroke in four lanes - and above all jump from the diving boards into the cool water.

Hardly any rush at the ticket office
Under the watchful eye of operations manager Sönke Eckl-Henningsen, the start got underway. However, the rush was limited. After the school classes, the adult guests were hesitant to enter the pool. There was even a sign at the entrance indicating that the pool was closed.