Germany Divided

Fun facts

Fun fact · Our own analysis of OpenStreetMap data, not official statistics. How we measured it

Garden swimming pools

Outdoor swimming pools in private gardens, per 10,000 inhabitants, OpenStreetMap, September 2026

Not the rich West: the East has 2.3× as many garden pools per head (13.6 per 10,000 inhabitants against 6.0). Saxony-Anhalt (19.9) and Saxony (18.3) lead, Hamburg is last (0.5). Most are above-ground pools in the gardens of detached houses.

< 6.66.612.919.325.6≥ 31.9

Inner-German border 1949–1990 ·401 districts · September 2026

Former West

6.0

excl. Berlin

Former East

13.6

excl. Berlin

Berlin

2.6

Figures in private pools per 10,000 inhabitants

The East's figure is 2.3× the West's (September 2026).

By state

Former WestFormer EastBerlin
  1. Sachsen-Anhalt19.9
  2. Sachsen18.3
  3. Brandenburg13.8
  4. Baden-Württemberg10.2
  5. Rheinland-Pfalz9.2
  6. Bayern8.3
  7. Thüringen6.0
  8. Saarland5.3
  9. Hessen5.2
  10. Nordrhein-Westfalen4.0
  11. Niedersachsen3.4
  12. Berlin2.6
  13. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern2.6
  14. Bremen1.9
  15. Schleswig-Holstein1.6
  16. Hamburg0.5

September 2026

How we measured this

We counted every swimming pool in OpenStreetMap that is marked private or has no access tag, leaving out indoor and rooftop pools and any pool inside a public bath, sports centre, water park, school, hotel or campsite, and divided by the population on 31 December 2025. We counted with the QLever SPARQL service (University of Freiburg) on the OpenStreetMap planet file of 21 September 2026; each place is assigned to the state or district whose boundary contains it. Rates are our calculation with official denominators.

  • Garden pools are mapped by volunteers tracing aerial images, so the count depends on how thoroughly an area has been traced. Pools are spread over hundreds of districts on both sides, so no single mapper drives the result.
  • OpenStreetMap is compiled by volunteers. Coverage in Germany is good but not complete, and it varies with how active local mappers are.
  • Our counts are released under the Open Database License (ODbL), as OpenStreetMap requires.
Show the table
StateSideSeptember 2026
Saarlandwest5.3 private pools per 10,000 inhabitants
Berlinberlin2.6 private pools per 10,000 inhabitants
Brandenburgeast13.8 private pools per 10,000 inhabitants
Mecklenburg-Vorpommerneast2.6 private pools per 10,000 inhabitants
Sachseneast18.3 private pools per 10,000 inhabitants
Sachsen-Anhalteast19.9 private pools per 10,000 inhabitants
Thüringeneast6.0 private pools per 10,000 inhabitants
Schleswig-Holsteinwest1.6 private pools per 10,000 inhabitants
Hamburgwest0.5 private pools per 10,000 inhabitants
Niedersachsenwest3.4 private pools per 10,000 inhabitants
Bremenwest1.9 private pools per 10,000 inhabitants
Nordrhein-Westfalenwest4.0 private pools per 10,000 inhabitants
Hessenwest5.2 private pools per 10,000 inhabitants
Rheinland-Pfalzwest9.2 private pools per 10,000 inhabitants
Baden-Württembergwest10.2 private pools per 10,000 inhabitants
Bayernwest8.3 private pools per 10,000 inhabitants