It looks very simple for Dennis Debets and his club colleagues. When the club chairman of the Eilendorfer Turnverein 1870 e.V. pulls himself up with a pull-up on the crossbar or does push-ups on two handles, you get an initial idea of what is possible on calisthenics equipment: Intensive, physical training without additional weights, using only your own body weight, usually only on simple-looking outdoor sports equipment reminiscent of classic apparatus gymnastics on parallel bars or high bar. This type of training is becoming increasingly popular in Germany. For this reason, seven such facilities have now been installed throughout the city of Aachen - three of which are currently still under construction. In the future, there will be at least one such facility in almost every district of the city, where people of all ages - including those with disabilities - can do freely accessible physical exercises to train their own muscles and body coordination.
The facility in Aachen-Eilendorf on Franz-Delheid-Straße was inaugurated yesterday (Thursday, July 4). "The calisthenics facilities are an enormous asset for the city," explained Dr. Markus Kremer, the city's alderman for personnel, fire department and sport, before cutting the red ribbon and officially opening the facility together with district mayor Elke Eschweiler, sports committee chairman Dr. Sebastian Breuer and Björn Jansen, chairman of the city sports association. Planning for the facilities had already begun in 2022 - together with the city sports association. At that time, the association approached the city with the request to use some of the funding received from the "Modern Sports Facilities 2022" project of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in the urban area. They quickly came up with this type of facility. "When we presented this idea to politicians at the time, we received positive feedback very quickly and the funding for our own contribution was approved," said Kremer, thanking the political bodies once again. The councillor also emphasized the good cooperation between all stakeholders at the city sports association, the city administration and in the districts. 500,000 euros of the funding went into the seven facilities. Eilendorf's district mayor Elke Eschweiler still remembers the intensive planning process: "We walked the entire district back then, weighed up all the possible locations until we chose this site here." The sports equipment now stands on the edge of a large playground, with a soccer pitch, not far from a new development area. "A good 1,200 people live in the area, including around 400 children. It's an oasis here in Eilendorf and the calisthenics facility is a great addition," says Eschweiler.
Sports clubs trained and won over as sponsors
Just how right they were with the idea of the calisthenics facilities would soon become clear: "As the recently adopted sports development plan shows, there is a great need for precisely this kind of outdoor sports facility in Aachen," continues Dr. Markus Kremer. Björn Jansen is also completely convinced by the concept: "When the Stadtsportbund received the funding, we quickly realized that it wouldn't make sense to build a large central facility." To complete the offer, the Stadtsportbund was able to win over sports clubs from the surrounding area as sponsors. "We trained these clubs beforehand and they can now offer open sports activities for everyone at the facilities. After all, it's easy to get things wrong when it comes to sport," says Jansen. Because as Dennis Debets from the gymnastics club says: "Calisthenics is not just about hanging out. You have to train your whole body." Membership of a club is not required to use the facilities or the open sports offers.
The following locations for the seven facilities and clubs were found with the involvement of the districts and the city sports association:
- on Rütscher Straße on a green area near the volleyball court, sponsored by PTSV Aachen e. V.
- in Kennedypark opposite the football pitch and skate park, sponsored by ASV Schwarz-Rot e. V.
- in Aachen-Richterich on Parkstraße (still under construction), sponsored by TV Richterich e. V.
- in Aachen-Brand on a meadow on Rombachstraße, sponsored by Aachen Greyhounds e. V.
- in Aachen-Haaren in the park at the old cemetery (still under construction), sponsored by DJK FV Haaren 1912 e. V.
- in Eilendorf at the playground and football pitch on Franz-Delheid-Straße, sponsored by Eilendorfer Turnverein 1870 e. V.
- in Laurensberg on a meadow on Schlottfelder Straße (still under construction), sponsorship: VFJ Laurensberg e. V.
As part of a pilot project, the facility on Rütscher Straße will offer the option of renting sports equipment free of charge in future. This will expand the range of training options at this calisthenics facility.
The sports equipment will be booked via the SportBox - app and move app. A one-off fee of 50 cents is required to install the app.