Some projects show better than any brochure what an outdoor fitness park can mean for a community. The inclusive sport and leisure area at the Rumberg in Neinstedt — a district of Thale in Saxony-Anhalt — is one of them. It was built by the Evangelische Stiftung Neinstedt under the motto “living together, inclusive and barrier-free”, and it puts a BARbara outdoor gym at its centre.
An inclusive place, by design
The area sits on a green space beside the foundation's workshop for people with disabilities, and every element was chosen so that people with and without disabilities can be active side by side. The outdoor gym is barrier-free and freely accessible, and its exercises can be selected and followed via QR code — suitable for beginners through to athletes. “The outdoor gym is based on the philosophy of training with your own body weight,” explained Workoutparks.com founder Stephan Heese.
The figures that made it possible
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Total investment | approx. EUR 106,000 |
| Principal funding | approx. EUR 52,000 (Lotto Sachsen-Anhalt) |
| Remainder | financed through donations |
| Equipment | BARbara outdoor gym, DIN EN 16630 compliant |
| Access | barrier-free, freely accessible |
Around EUR 52,000 of lottery funding from Lotto Sachsen-Anhalt flowed into the project, with the roughly EUR 106,000 total completed through donations — a funding mix many municipalities and social institutions can learn from.
More than a gym
The BARbara sits on a red synthetic safety surface with fall-protection matting, embedded in a wider leisure concept: a beach volleyball court, a football pitch with fixed goals, a table-tennis table, seating and Wi-Fi. A sanitary container lets the area operate independently of the neighbouring workshop's opening hours — so it works as a genuine public meeting point.
Why it works as a blueprint
The Neinstedt reference shows how a compact, DIN EN 16630-compliant outdoor gym can anchor an inclusive public space: freely accessible around the clock, barrier-free, with QR-guided training for every level and no running costs for the operator. That combination — inclusion, durability and near-zero operating cost — is exactly what makes such projects both fundable and lasting.
You can read the full reference, including partners and quotes, on our Neinstedt case study page, or download the case study as a PDF to share with your committee or funding body.