Following last year’s decision to introduce mandatory ID checks at outdoor swimming pools, Berlin senator Iris Sprenger (SPD) has announced several additional security measures.
As Freibad season begins, Senator for Sport in Berlin Iris Sprenger has announced several additional security measures that will be introduced at outdoor swimming pools in the city this summer.
The plan centres around introducing an online ticketing system. Online ticket sales will be coupled with a traffic light system, with amber meaning that online ticket sales have been stopped, and red meaning that entry to the pool is no longer permitted - even if you have already bought a ticket.
Under the new rules, tickets bought online will be valid for up to seven days after purchase and will be 10 percent cheaper than those bought in person.
At several pools in the city, including Freibäder in Neukölln, Kreuzberg and Pankow, in-person ticket sales will only be available until 10 am, after which visitors will only be able to buy tickets on the internet. These pools are also among the five locations that will erect new fences on their grounds, Sprenger announced.
Sprenger’s announcement of these additional measures follows a policy introduced last year, whereby all visitors over the age of 14 must show an ID card upon entrance to an outdoor pool run by the city's Berliner Bäder Betriebe. This policy will continue to apply as open-air pools in the capital open their gates throughout May.
The measures were adopted in response to increasingly regular, large fights at outdoor swimming pools in Berlin and other German cities in the past few summers. Recurring fights at Berlin’s Colombiabad last year saw the pool close for around a week after staff members took sick leave in an act of protest against the level of physical violence they face at work.
The situation led Germany’s Federal Association of Swimming Pool Supervisors to call for a stronger police presence at outdoor swimming pools, a request which police rejected. While Sprenger did not clarify whether police would patrol pools in the coming months, Berlin Bäder Betriebe boss Johannes Kleinsorg said that pool staff will work closely with police.
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