This year on the Open Monument Day (“Tag des offenen Denkmals,” an annual event in Germany that allows the public to visit historic buildings and sites not usually open to the public) i took the opportunity to visit the old Stadtbad Lichtenberg. I heard some stories about it, but i never saw it from the inside (i simply was too young). It was designed by the Lichtenberger Magistratsbaurat Otto Weis with two swimming pools for men and woman, showers and bathtubs, gymnastics room with massage rooms, a sauna and sunbathing on the roof as well as medical baths. The bath opened as the “Städtisches Volksbad” in 1928, built in the style of expressionist architecture, and it closed it doors in 1991 due to various construction defects (the water treatment system and heating were ailing) and tight budgets.¹

This is a relict of a former S-Bahn bridge and an open exhibition about the Hartungsche Säulen. The bridge over the Stadthausstraße was built in 1903 and was replaced by a new one in 2005/2006. The memorial in the Stadthausstraße was placed nearby the original location of the old bridge. A small sign explains the use and the history of the columns.

During the Wilhelminian period (late 19th to early 20th century), Berlin underwent rapid urbanization and technological modernization. The expansion of public transport, including double-decker buses and electric trams, required that railway bridges be raised to provide sufficient clearance for these new vehicles. This led to the need for innovative support structures that could bear the increased loads and span wider roads.