Oberursel

Last words on the Hessentag

July 19, 2011 By Graham Leave a Comment

The Hessentag finished a month ago today, and yet the official events are not quite over.

In the end, around 1.4 million people came to Oberursel to visit the Hessentag, breaking the previous record with the procession on the last day alone having almost 4,000 participants.

Next week (25th-29th July) the remaining merchandise will be sold off in the foyer of the Rathaus.

And then… something typically German happens. A by-law called the Hessische Gemeindeordnung (HGO) contains a paragraph (§ 8a) which calls for something called a Bürgerversammlung – a citizen’s meeting. Such a meeting is taking place in the Stadthalle in Oberursel on Monday, 8th August, 2011 at 7pm.

Both supporters and critics of the Hessentag will be given the chance to put forward their opinions of the event, although I hope they do listen to the critics more than they did at the last information evening that I attended in December 2010.

Maybe the last word has not yet been heard…

Filed Under: Hessentag Tagged With: Bürgerversammlung, Flag, Hessentag, Hessische Gemeindeordnung, HGO, Meeting, Merchandising, Oberursel, § 8a

Oberursel’s swimming pool problem

July 9, 2011 By Graham Leave a Comment

Oberursel’s swimming pool is one of the most discussed topics in the town, after the Hessentag.

For many years, one of its problems had been that the pool was either open as an indoor pool (Hallenbad) or an outdoor one (Freibad), but as far as I know not as both at the same time. This meant that if there was a bad summer, the ticket receipts could be severely affected.

Oberursel's old swimming pool building, closed since September 2008

But it was with the closure of the indoor pool in September 2008 that the real problems started. After the collapse of the roof of a public ice rink in southern Germany, many towns commissioned studies of their public buildings to ensure that they did not suffer the same fate during the winter months, which appeared to be receiving more snow from year to year.

Oberursel’s roof was deemed too unsafe for public swimming, and the indoor pool has not been open since. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Sport Tagged With: Freibad, Hallenbad, Oberursel, Schwimmbad, swimming pool