espada Freizeitbad

espada is the municipal leisure bath of Eschwege in north-eastern Hesse, at Goldbachstraße 55, and it works as two baths on one site: an indoor hall and, outside in the grounds, the espanatura natural open-air pool. Which of the two opens depends on the weather. The operator switches to the hall when the outside temperature falls below 23 °C or the chance of rain passes 50 per cent, while on Mondays and Thursdays only the open-air pool takes bathers regardless of conditions; the current decision is posted on the front page each morning.

Indoors the anchor is a 25-metre sports pool at about 28 °C, divided into swimmer and non-swimmer halves and equipped with a one-metre springboard and a three-metre tower; it is used without a time limit, and Wednesday is late-swimming night. A separate fitness and relaxation pool is held at 33 °C with massage jets and a cascade brush, and its height-adjustable floor and disabled lift make it the course pool for pregnancy, aqua-fitness and rehabilitation groups, so it is not always free for casual bathers. The parent-and-child area, also around 33 °C, covers 50 m² of water and is fitted with a spraying snake, a shower crocodile, a water organ, a boat channel with a weir and water wheel, and an elephant-trunk slide for the smallest children. Two further slides serve the hall: an 80-metre Black Hole with light and sound effects and a timing gate, and a 20-metre children's slide for ages seven and up.

The outdoor espanatura does without chlorine altogether. Its 1,040 m² basin holds three 50-metre lanes and flexible play platforms, is entered barrier-free by a step-free ramp, and shades into a sand-floored lagoon that ends in a beach among artificial rocks; the water is kept at a minimum of 23 °C and is purified through a reed-planted soil filter set away from the bathing area. A textile sauna opened in April 2024 — bio sauna, steam bath and infrared cabin, plus an experience shower and a rest area — and its use is covered by the ordinary admission price. A Velus Jet water-massage lounger can be booked in ordinary clothes without entering the bath at all.