Sommerbad Kreuzberg – Prinzenbad - Top 10 Outdoor and Open Air Pools

Sommerbad Kreuzberg, known in Berlin simply as Prinzenbad, is located directly at the Prinzenstraße subway station and features two pools over 50 meters long, one of which is a sports pool. Additionally, there is a terrace pool, a non-swimmer pool with a slide and water mushroom, a paddling pool, and a playground with a water play area. A day ticket costs 7 Euros.

Berlin Institution on the U1

Hardly any other pool in the city is as intertwined with its neighborhood as this one. Prinzenbad is located on Prinzenstraße, where the U1 rumbles by on its viaduct, and if you exit the station, you are just a few steps from the entrance. The audience is as diverse as Kreuzberg itself; on the large sunbathing lawns, families lie next to students next to regulars who have been coming for decades. Officially, the facility is called Sommerbad Kreuzberg, but hardly anyone outside of the administration uses that name. Prices match the standard of Berlin’s public pools: 7 Euros for a day ticket, 4.20 Euros reduced, children under five enter for free, and frequent visitors save money with a multi-pass for twenty entries or a subscription. Bringing your own padlock for the lockers saves the extra charge at the cash desk. Guests aged fourteen and over require an original official photo ID for entry, and glass, porcelain, grills, and shishas are not permitted. This may sound strict, but it ensures that a pool with several thousand guests can function at all.

Two 50-Meter Pools and a Terrace Pool

The water area is the real reason for the venue’s reputation: two pools measure 50 meters, one of which is reserved for sports, and there is also a separate terrace pool, which is unheated and still used even when the large pools have long been empty. A non-swimmer pool with a slide and water mushroom accommodates those who prefer shallower water; next to it are a paddling pool and a children’s playground with its own water play area. A snack bar caters to the sunbathing lawns. Showers, toilets, and changing rooms are barrier-free, a disabled parking space is next to the entrance, and access extends to the edge of the pool, however, there is no lift into the water, but rather stairs into the non-swimmer pool. If you want to go to Prinzenbad, you should arrive early on hot days, as ticket sales are stopped once the facility is full. An occupancy display from the operators helps to catch the right moment. And because the pool has played the same role in the district for decades, you will meet more different Berliners here in a single afternoon than in most other pools combined.