YOUR FORUM FOR PLAY, SPORTS UND LEISURE AREAS
Pfaffenhofen, a small town in Upper Bavaria with some 27,000 residents, is at the heart of the Hallertau, the world's largest hop-growing region. Three years ago this mid-sized town centrally located between the metropolises of Munich, Ingolstadt, Augsburg and Regensburg hosted the “Nature in Pfaffenhofen a. d. Ilm 2017” garden show. The staging of the show transformed the town. A completely new sports and leisure centre with an ice rink and a climbing gym has been built. Other developments include the creation of a large park while the river Ilm, the town's main watercourse, has been made accessible again. Waterside sunbathing areas, a wooden park bench and blooming borders now tempt people to enjoy nature. And the small Ilminsel island has also been given a makeover with a great terrace, places for children and senior citizens and direct access to the water. A centrepiece of the garden show was the town's main square, an inviting place to enjoy coffee and cake around a water feature – or for a stroll through the spruced-up old town.
To accompany the garden show a temporary playground was created on the main square next to the water feature. In keeping with the garden show, the planners had chosen the "A meadow in the centre of the town" theme and chosen a design by Carla Jäckel and Christina Bergsteiner from the play space office of the SIK-Holz company in Bavaria. "A meadow in the centre of the town" with stems so high that children can climb around in them like little insects. They face the challenge of skilfully balancing across grass stalks without being caught by the other insect-children. What kind of bird has built its nest there? Are there eggs in it? Anyone who hides in the nest or chills out in the large net stretched out between the grass stalks can look up into the crowns of the trees, where they are sure to see a few animals who live in the centre of the town. The wooden meadow is filled with play sand. Children can move the sand from the ground to a platform above and allow it to trickle through their fingers, while adults sit on the pedestals and in fine weather can take off their shoes and immerse their feet in the sand.
The "Meadow in the town“ has now become an established element of the main square. Between the wooden blades of grass children's laughter, conversations between adults, the twittering of birds and the clock in the church tower can be heard. The playground next to the Marienbrunnen fountain has turned out to be a real attraction for families. While older children climb and balance on the wooden play equipment, little ones are in their element in the fenced-in giant sandpit. Ice cream is all that is needed to round off a perfect relaxing experience!
