The Sportschule Baden-Baden Steinbach is the training and continuing-education centre of the Badischer Sportbund Freiburg, in Baden-Baden’s Rebland (wine-growing region). Despite its name, it is not a general school with pupils but a facility for education and competitive sport: more than 20 sports federations train their coaches, instructors and referees here, and state and national squads in various disciplines train on the grounds.[1] It was founded in 1957 by the town of Steinbach, then still independent.[2]
Facilities and accommodation[1]
Training and competition take place on two grass pitches (each 60 by 100 metres), a gravel pitch (60 by 90 metres) and an artificial-turf pitch (70 by 110 metres), all floodlit. Further facilities include a 400-metre synthetic running track with throwing areas for discus and javelin, three large sports halls, a gymnastics hall, a climbing wall five metres high and 16 metres wide, a weight room and tennis courts. The school’s own indoor pool measures 16.66 by 8 metres and has an adjustable floor. Next door on Yburgstraße is the public Freibad Steinbach, an outdoor pool run by the municipal utilities that is not part of the sports school. Guests of the sports school may use it during its opening hours.
For courses and conferences, the school has its own lecture rooms and meeting rooms. Guests can stay overnight in 24 single and 61 double rooms across four buildings, six of them wheelchair-accessible. The school records around 32,000 overnight stays a year.[3]
History[2]
The sports school goes back to the then still independent town of Steinbach, which laid the foundation stone in 1957 and opened the Meister-Erwin-Halle. Steinbach was initially the developer and owner. The first hard-surface pitch followed in 1958. In 1960 the Badischer Sportbund Freiburg, its member federations and the town of Steinbach founded the Südbadische Sportschule Steinbach e.V. as the operating body. Haus 2, with the indoor pool, followed in 1965.
In 1971 the Badischer Sportbund Freiburg took over as sole operator and became owner of the grounds. The Südbadische Sportschule Steinbach e.V. was dissolved in the process. Halle 2 followed in 1972, the year Steinbach was incorporated into Baden-Baden. Haus 3 was added in 1989.
The grounds were extensively modernised through the 2000s and 2010s. A new gravel pitch was built in 2000, and FC Neuweier’s existing gravel pitch was converted into a grass football pitch. Between 2004 and 2013 the site was rebuilt for accessibility. In 2011 a gravel pitch was converted into an artificial-turf football pitch, and in 2016 a new artificial hockey turf was added. The indoor pool was renovated in 2024, and the residential buildings were refurbished by 2025.
References
- ↑1.1↑1.2 Südbadische Sportschule Steinbach, Südbadischer Fußballverband, retrieved 19 July 2026 (Archived)
- ↑2.1↑2.2 Die Geschichte der Sportschule, Sportschule Baden-Baden Steinbach, retrieved 19 July 2026 (Archived)
- ↑ Sportschule Baden-Baden Steinbach, Sportschule Baden-Baden Steinbach, retrieved 19 July 2026 (Archived)