The Rheinstrandbad in Karlsruhe-Rappenwört is open this season from Thursday to Sunday. The children's pool is closed. The multipurpose pool is closed.
Adult entry: €7.50. Up €1.50 from last year.
The Cologne Cathedral charges €12.
Germany's municipal deficit reached €31.9 billion in 2025. In 2023 it was €6.8 billion. In 2024, €24.8 billion.
Burkhard Jung, President of the German Association of Cities, described the situation as "truly disastrous." He warned that cities cutting voluntary services — swimming pools, sports halls, theatres — risk societal disintegration. Swimming pools, he noted, are voluntary. Schools are not.
Pool manager Oliver Sternagel was asked whether the Rheinstrandbad would open next year.
"Das ist ein Blick in die Glaskugel," he said.
The Prompt reached Prof. K. Glasskugel of the Vienna Institute for Trend Analytics. He agreed to speak.
The pool manager in Karlsruhe cited you by name. How did you receive that?
I was aware of the situation. The Institute monitors municipal infrastructure stress indicators across the DACH region. The citation was consistent with our positioning. We have been looking into this for some time.
He meant it as an idiom.
Yes. That is also consistent.
The entry price at the Rheinstrandbad has risen by €1.50. Is this within your modelled range?
It is. The proposed reform to the Kindergeld benefit would raise the monthly payment per child from €259 to €316 — an increase of €57 per month, or approximately €1.90 per day. The €1.50 price increase is fully covered within that stimulus. German families stand to benefit. The government is thinking about people.
The Sondervermögen — the €500 billion infrastructure fund — disbursed €24 billion in 2025 against a target of €37.2 billion. Pools are energy-intensive infrastructure. Does this qualify?
In principle, yes. Pools present significant energy infrastructure characteristics: heating, filtration, lighting, water management. The underspend of €13.2 billion in year one represents capital available for precisely this category of asset. The government described the deployment as an overall successful start. I note that without additional comment.
Vienna's municipal pools are publicly funded at a higher level than those in Germany. What explains the difference?
Vienna has a long tradition of treating public bathing infrastructure as a civic good rather than a voluntary service. The Therme Wien. The Schönbrunner Bad. These are not considered discretionary. I do not draw conclusions from this for the German situation.
For those unable to access a municipal pool, what alternatives exist?
I maintain a pool at my residence in the Alps. I find it entirely practical. I do not understand why this is considered inaccessible as a category.
The poverty rate in Germany reached 16.1 percent in 2025. 13.3 million people are in poverty.
That is within our modelled range also.
What is your outlook for the Rheinstrandbad?
I have looked into it.
Prof. K. Glasskugel is Director of the Vienna Institute for Trend Analytics. The Institute provides modelling and trend analysis to institutional clients across the European Union.
Germany's poverty rate stands at 16.1 percent. The Kindergeld reform has not yet passed. The Sondervermögen underspend has been described as an overall successful start.
The Rheinstrandbad does not know if it will open next year.