Freighters - Mature swim season in Lower Saxony and Bremen
In Lower Saxony and Bremen, the summer is still waiting for its major breakthrough. It keeps getting held back by rainy days. The visitor numbers of the baths in Oldenburg are currently below last year's numbers.
However, one spoke of strong first summer months in 2023. Although it is currently rather inconsistent weather-wise, there have also been good days and phases. The operators are optimistic for the coming two and a half months. No shortening of opening hours is planned at the moment.
In Bremen, there are no plans to close the baths earlier due to the bad weather. "In extreme weather situations, technical or personnel failures, we cannot rule out changes", said a spokesperson for the Bremen Baths GmbH. Concrete visitor numbers will only be published at the end of the season in Hanseatic City.
In the three baths of the Göttinger Sport and Leisure GmbH, the operators count more than double the number of guests this year compared to the previous year's period. However, this is due to the fact that the largest bath there was closed last year due to renovation work. In the current season, the absence of bathing guests is noticeable, but hope is placed on a weather turnaround in August and correspondingly better visitor numbers. Shortened opening hours are not planned in Göttingen.
In Hanover, the inconsistent weather is also noticeable. In one of the largest urban baths, the Lister Bath, about 37,000 visitors came in the current season for swimming. In the same period last year, it was 57,000. These numbers are unlikely to be made up.
However, since the baths are extremely dependent on the weather, there are stronger and weaker seasons, said a spokesperson. Shortened opening hours are offered only occasionally due to a personnel shortage, not due to the weather.
In Osnabrück's Moskaubad, the visitor numbers in comparison to the year 2023 have only slightly decreased. The operators counted about 94,000 visitors and visitors in this summer, in the previous year's period about 110,000. The reason for this was the good visitor numbers on warm and sunny days.
"It is unlikely that we will proclaim a record bathing season in this year", said a spokesperson for the baths in Brunswick. In this summer, about one third fewer bathing guests have been counted than in the same period last year. At the same time, more people visited the indoor baths in this time. At the baths Raffteich and Waggum, the opening hours change depending on the weather. Guests can check this beforehand online on a so-called "bather map". This regulation has been in place according to the statements of the operators for several years.
In Regenday, visitors to the outdoor swimming pool can enjoy swimming during the freebadseason, with no changes to the opening times planned. Despite some rainy days, the weather in Lower Saxony and cities like Oldenburg and Hannover has been inconsistent, offering both good and bad weather periods. Despite lower visitor numbers in Oldenburg compared to last year, operators remain optimistic for the rest of the summer.
