20 years ago, Hans (77) converted an old swimming pool into his apartment. The decisive reason for the purchase was the divorce from his wife at the time. Hans had to move out and discovered the old indoor swimming pool in Krumbach, near Ulm, behind an inconspicuous facade.
"I then walked past there a time or two and thought to myself: my goodness, this is really something special." Hans knew the owners and was able to purchase the entire building with swimming pool for just under 200,000 euros and finance the conversion. Originally, the house consisted of a spacious living area and the leisure area with pool and bathing facilities. Hans divided the house into these areas and now lives himself exclusively in the former swimming pool. The classic living area of the house is occupied by another family.
Hans himself has a degree in mechanical engineering and his craftsmanship is evident everywhere: At first glance, it is hardly apparent that there was once a swimming pool in this room. Over the pool basin, Hans built a large wooden platform. This houses drawers filled with raffia baskets on the sides, an ideal storage space. On the pedestal itself is mostly recycled furniture from the flea market, which Hans bought cheaply and then polished up. Hans' talent for tinkering is also evident here: he built an exercise bike out of an old bicycle, for example.
An old collection of small collector cars, carefully cared for and safely stored behind a pane of glass, reveals another of Hans' passions: "I hide them behind there because otherwise one of my many grandchildren would have come and stolen my collection long ago." Hans is the father of four sons, all of whom in turn have children. As a result, there is often a lot going on in the old swimming pool.
At the entrance to the pool, Hans built a hatch into the platform that can be folded up. So you can dive down 'into the bathing pleasure', as Hans always says. The pool is 4 meters wide and 7 meters long. In it now stands a table on which neatly drawn plans for Hans' next projects lie. He is currently thinking about a sun deck on the roof and a solar installation.
A special highlight of his swimming pool apartment is the "deep bed". In the middle of the living area, there is an entire bed full of large plants embedded in the floor tiles. Hidden behind it is a large selection of fitness equipment. Hans was a soccer coach all his life, still plays himself, and even trains the next generation.
In theory, however, the pool could be refilled at any time. All the necessary equipment and pipes are still in place. But Hans decided against it relatively quickly: "That would also be far too expensive today!" When Hans does get the urge to bathe, there is an old zinc bathtub hidden under the reclining areas of his sauna, which is also not in use. He can fill it from the shower using an inflow specially placed in the sauna.
He's kept the '70s toilet with playful scroll tiles and magenta dried flowers like some kind of ironic commentary from the old days. The shower, too, still retains its '70s swimming pool style. Hans can get a hot water supply to the shower, but mostly he takes cold showers.
The heating costs of Hans' glass building are largely determined by external influences such as the sun. When the sun is shining, the indoor pool warms up to quite pleasant temperatures even in winter due to the large glass fronts. On particularly cold days, the wood-burning stove in the rustic-looking lounge above the pool room is sometimes turned on and the curtains to the open space are drawn. My parents always said to me: "Boy, you're freezing! But I'm great! I never freeze!"
A film by Feline Gerhardt (editing/cinematography), Cécilia Marchat (sound) and Alex Kühn (camera/editing). Production: EIKON Media GmbH, on behalf of SWR.
00:00 Living in the swimming pool
00:30 Living area
01:39 Office
02:36 Bedroom
03:04 Leisure area
03:57 Former pool
06:29 Dining room
07:35 Kitchen
07:58 Bathroom and sauna
10:05 Garden