Hamburg should get a river swimming pool, politicians say

Water, water, everywhere, and not a spot to swim! Hamburg may be a city surrounded by water, but it’s got a real dearth of swim spots. For that reason, local CDU politicians are calling for the establishment of a river swimming pool within the city. 

CDU party calls for a river swimming pool in Hamburg

The CDU party within the Hamburg Senate is pushing to open a river pool on the Elbe - the river that runs through Hamburg - or the Alster, the river tributary that forms two lakes in the city centre. 

“It’s time to make Hamburg’s waters accessible to everyone - not just for viewing, but for bathing, swimming, and enjoyment,” Anke Frieling, the CDU parliamentary group’s urban development spokesperson, told the dpa, FAZ reports. 

Senate says that conditions in Elbe and Alster make swimming tricky

However, the Senate isn’t so keen on the idea. In a response to Frieling’s request, the Senate wrote that it was examining the suitability of Hamburg’s waters for swimming, but was coming up against issues with the water quality - as it did back in 2015 when the environmental agency examined the possibility of establishing a public bathing area in the Elbe. 

While Frieling pointed to the examples of Copenhagen, Oslo and Malmö, cities that have all successfully established public bathing spots, the Senate said that conditions in Hamburg were different, due to the waters’ tidal flow, port traffic, and use as a federal waterway. 

Frieling rejected their arguments, saying that comparable challenges have been overcome in other cities by using filtration systems, safety concepts and architectural solutions. “The Hanseatic city is wasting great potential here,” she said.