On really hot summer days, we like to head to Alpenbad Arzbach for a few hours. For us, it’s not somewhere you necessarily have to spend the whole day. Often just a quick cool-down, a bit of sun and then a drink afterwards is enough. The pool itself feels pleasantly low-key: no big adventure pool, no slide landscape, no over-the-top extras – more like a classic, family-run outdoor pool as you’d remember from earlier times. That’s exactly what makes it appealing to us.
A piece of Arzbach since 1934
Alpenbad was opened back in 1934 and remains family-run to this day. That means it now has over 90 years of history behind it. For a small privately operated outdoor pool, that’s anything but a given. The pool includes a 25-metre swimming pool, a non-swimmers’ area as well as children’s and baby pools. There are also lawns for sunbathing, tennis courts and other sports facilities.
Particularly lovely is the location by the Arzbach stream and the view into the surrounding mountains. On a clear day, you can see all the way to the Benediktenwand from here. When you’re lying in the water or sitting on the terrace, you pretty quickly get that typical Isarwinkel feeling: green surroundings, mountains in the background and everything a good deal more relaxed than at a big municipal pool.
The water is not for wimps
The name Alpenbad is definitely meant seriously. The water is fed with fresh mountain water and is accordingly on the cool side. Anyone who generally needs bathtub temperatures for swimming probably won’t be happy here. You do need to like the cooler water.
But on hot days, we find exactly that pleasant. After a few minutes you get used to the temperature, and when it’s really summer outside, there’s hardly anything better than that first plunge into the cool water. My wife likes to make proper use of the opportunity and swims her laps. I’m somewhat less ambitious in that regard.
Division of labour, our style
Fortunately, there’s also a restaurant with terrace right at the pool. That makes it possible to split a visit perfectly: while my wife does her laps in the pool, I can dedicate myself to my personal form of endurance sport – a cold drink with a view of the pool. After all, you have to set priorities. 😉
It’s precisely this combination that we like. One can swim, the other sits relaxed alongside, and afterwards you meet up again on the lawn or at the restaurant. In terms of price too, we find both the admission and the restaurant offering absolutely fair. Especially for a short visit it’s pleasant because you don’t have the feeling that you first have to make half a day trip out of it to make the admission worthwhile.
A family pool without big spectacle
The fact that Alpenbad has been run as a family business for decades is evident. It doesn’t feel like a completely optimised leisure park, but rather like an outdoor pool that simply belongs to its place. An anecdote from the early years fits this too: at the opening in 1934, practically half the village is said to have been out. During a swimming race, some participants allegedly had their rucksacks weighted with stones as a joke – whereupon the whole thing nearly turned out rather less funny than planned.
Whether every detail of this story can still be precisely verified today is debatable. As an old Arzbach tale, it fits pretty well with a pool that has already experienced several generations.
The Arzbach is part of it
The stream itself is also part of the facility. The outdoor pool lies directly by the Arzbach, and it’s precisely this transition between natural stream course, sunbathing lawn and swimming pool that makes the atmosphere special. The Arzbach can however also show that mountain water isn’t always just idyllic. After severe flooding events in the past, extensive protective measures were necessary. The stream was therefore stabilised in various sections and flood protection improved.
As a pool visitor today, you notice little of this. You lie on the lawn or sit on the terrace and perhaps hear the water rushing – while behind it lies quite a lot of work to make sure it all functions even during heavy rain.
Just right for us as a quick stop
For us, Alpenbad Arzbach isn’t somewhere you need to plan extensively. When it’s really hot and we fancy cooling down, we simply head there. Swim a few laps – at least one of us –, sit in the sun for a while, maybe eat or drink something and gaze at the mountains. Sometimes it doesn’t need to be any more than that.
And while my wife continues doing her rounds in the pool, I naturally hold the fort conscientiously from the poolside. With a cold drink in hand. Someone has to keep watch, after all.