Janny Gerstenberger’s last week on the job and final season—the Vetschau pool attendant is leaving the outdoor pool after 14 summers.

Born in Cottbus in 1983, she applied for a position as a “skilled worker in swimming pool operations” after graduating from secondary school in Wolfsburg, secured an apprenticeship there, and was subsequently hired by the municipal swimming pool. After 12 years, the woman—who was now a single mother of one child—decided to return to her old hometown. While looking for a new job, she came across a job posting from the town of Vetschau, which was seeking a specialist for the local swimming pool. “It was an absolute stroke of luck for me; I applied right away and got the job. 2012 was my first season in Vetschau, and for the winter months I found a job as a service worker at PiPaPo in Cottbus, an indoor playground,” Janny Gerstenberger recalls at the end of the 2026 season, which also marks the end of her time in Vetschau. “I’m leaving with a touch of sadness in my heart, because I’ve truly enjoyed my work—especially with the children. Here, I wasn’t just a ‘spectator’ like I was in Wolfsburg; here, I was responsible for absolutely everything. But now, that’s become too much for me—I’m afraid I can no longer handle it. Our visitor demographic has changed in the meantime; there are increasingly frequent problems and instances of people not adhering to the rules and standards, yet I continue to bear responsibility for everything—I no longer feel fully up to the task,” says Janny Gerstenberger, looking back wistfully on her many years here. It bothers her when parents are more preoccupied with their smartphones and only occasionally keep an eye on their children while they’re swimming—children whom they now assume are in the care of the lifeguards once they’ve entered the pool. She struggled with the decision for a long time, but at the same time she is happy to now be able to work in Cottbus year-round.

At Vetschauer Bad, in addition to general supervision, she was responsible for ensuring compliance with hygiene regulations; the water quality had to be checked daily and adjusted as necessary.

In the early years, she still had to work alongside others from Monday through Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., with no days off. Janny Gerstenberger: “I actually enjoyed it—the place has such a quaint, nostalgic feel, and the visitors are nice and friendly; I’ve come to know many of them by name. The vacationers, in particular—once they’ve found the spa—are absolutely thrilled.” Rest days were only introduced in recent years; currently, they are Monday and Tuesday.

She has taught over a hundred children to swim and then certified them with the “Seepferdchen” or a higher-level swimming badge—something that makes her very proud. Janny Gerstenberger is convinced that knowing how to swim is an immensely important enrichment of life for everyone.

Unfortunately, two regrettable incidents also occurred during his years of service; one turned out well in the end, but the other, sadly, did not:

On August 5, 2022, a very hot day, a farm worker employed by Ricken, a farmer in the Spreewald region, jumped into the pool, presumably without cooling off first. Attentive observers noticed that he had not reappeared and alerted Janny Gerstenberger, the swim instructor. She pulled the victim from the bottom of the pool, successfully revived him after a few minutes, and handed him over to the emergency responders who had arrived in the meantime. Two weeks later, the man who had been rescued appeared at the bathhouse with his boss and the then-mayor, Bengt Kanzler, to thank Janny Gerstenberger for her thoughtful rescue.

Once again on August 5, once again on a very hot day, another swimming accident occurred in 2026 that unfortunately proved fatal. A group of children from Berlin had come to visit, and after the long walk to the pool, they were naturally eager to cool off. Around 3:00 p.m., a nine-year-old girl suffered a medical emergency in the water and had to be rescued and resuscitated by Janny Gerstenberger. Unfortunately, the child died a few days later at the hospital in Cottbus, presumably as a result of the oxygen deprivation he had suffered.

Peter Becker, September 8, 2026