Badewelt Waikiki, Tropical water facility in Zeulenroda-Triebes, Germany
Badewelt Waikiki was a Hawaiian-themed leisure and thermal bath on the shore of the Zeulenroda reservoir. It combined an adventure and sports pool, restaurants and a sauna area. The adventure pool held a current channel, a family slide, a grotto, a waterfall, a whirlpool and an outdoor brine pool; the sports pool had a 25-metre basin with diving towers and a movable floor.
Badewelt Waikiki opened in 1997 as a Hawaiian-themed leisure and adventure pool on the Zeulenrodaer Meer. It closed temporarily on 31 December 2022 for renovation, earlier than planned due to rising energy prices and staff shortages, as announced by mayor Nils Hammerschmidt. On 25 June 2025 the Zeulenroda-Triebes city council decided on its permanent closure because municipal operation and renovation were too costly.
The name Waikiki refers to the Honolulu beach district, and the complex carried a Hawaiian theme throughout its pools and sauna area. The sauna section grouped a Finnish sauna, steam bath, bio sauna, bio-fire sauna and four log-cabin saunas. The restaurant wing was split into an external restaurant, a free-flow restaurant and a sauna restaurant, all supplied by the in-house kitchen.
The facility was covered with a retractable glass dome that could open during good weather. Different areas accommodated various visitors, from lap swimming to relaxation zones.
The retractable glass dome could fully open during favorable weather and transform the covered tropical setting into an open-air experience. This created a rare feature that combined indoor and outdoor swimming in one location.
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