Ehemaliges Freibad Kammerwoog - Idar-Oberstein

aymar S.

Freibad Kammerwoog was opened to the public on the 16th of July in 1960 (when police cars were still clad in Lincoln green) and decommissioned in 2004 (about the time when their coast of arms became more colorful and bee-like). It can be reached from the bicycle trail from Hammerstein to Idar Oberstein. One has to get off the bicycle path shortly after passing the 'Blaues Wunder' (the name may evoke a Chagall painting, or possibly one by Franz Marc - both did 'Blue Horses' - but it actually refers to the color of a humpbacked bicycle bridge over the Nahe). The footpath to the erstwhile public pool can be barely made out. For anyone less keen on braving patches of stinging nettle, the ever present B41 skirts the locality. Roadside parking may however be a challenge.

Topography: the 'upper deck' is marked by the B41 (highway), the 'lower deck' by the Nahe. Everything else is wedged in somewhere in-between.

First impression, the local goblins outdid themselves. It certainly takes some moxie to cargo lift a 2m³ garbage container into the business end (the diving board zone) of a pool. The mushroom shaped wigwam looks also out of place. Calumets as well as shishas are usually banned in public places of recreation. Once there was Cernunnos, the Celtic deity of wildlife and everything else, usually depicted in a cross-legged position. Now only upturned chairs remain. The upturned plastic cones (road repair in progress) at the bottom play hide and seek, animated by the slightest breeze. An old prophecy (possibly Buddhistic) states that the world will come to an end if all the cones (tumbleweed second class) will point exactly in the same direction. The discreet harbinger.

The pool area once sported lifebuoys. Now that it is drained it lacks even the most essential safety equipment, like say a Jacob's ladder. Possible escape option, pole vaulting.

The booth of the observation platform could have been repurposed as howdah. Waste not, want not.

The non-swimmer's pool is somewhat puzzling. It looks as if somewhat decided to convert it into a wading pool after the concrete was poured. That would explain the three sunken islands at its bottom, all neatly rimmed with boulders (even visible in Google maps). The other option, well tended herb gardens.

The murals fall short of Angkor Wat standards. One can always blame it on the missing rice paddies. As for the miniatures, undeniable KonoSuba influence. A purloined door did serve as impromptu canvass. A janitor's worse nightmare. [removed due to nudity issues]

The contoured letters and blazing backdrops should be reasonably familiar form the candy bar aisle. Okay, very large candy bars.

The control room where semi precious stones were once flipped to increase the creature comforts of the visitors (or wreck their nerves by absolutely superfluous announcements). The denuded box organizer, stripped of copper busbars and anything of recycling value.

'Footfalls echoing in the memory', maybe. The future, who knows. The scenic location is undisputed. Main drawback, any road sign would heave into view only at the last minute due to the curvature of the highway.

At the bank of the Nahe (which encircles the compound on three sides). No mermaid was spotted. Not even a humble dugong (manatee). Dabbled light only.

Dario J.

Sickomode