Visiting a swimming pool in Berlin: New rules cause confusion!

Visiting a swimming pool in Berlin: New rules cause confusion!

In the hot season, when Berlin's outdoor pools come back to life, access for bathers becomes increasingly complex. The trend towards increased safety precautions means that a relaxed visit to the summer pool is no longer so easy. Today both report tagesschau.de as well as berliner-zeitung.de about the new regulations affecting swimming in the capital.

In order to access the outdoor pools, guests aged 14 and over will in future have to present an official photo ID. Children under 14 should have an age verification document with them, which requires many families to make extra effort before visiting. A security guard, wearing a white polo shirt and equipped with a radio, provided more information about this new step in Neukölln's Columbiabads and answered questions from excited children. You might think it would be a normal day at the outdoor pool if it weren't for the fact that extremely high security measures unsettle parents and children at the same time. Frequent crimes and arguments seem to have turned swimming pool visits into an additional challenge.

Security requirements and access restrictions

The new measures include not only ID checks, but also strict bag checks. Glass bottles, weapons, shishas and grills are strictly prohibited to ensure the safety of bathers. It will be interesting to see how these changes are accepted by bathers; suddenly a relaxing day on the water is made more difficult by such requirements. Online tickets are now mandatory to ensure guaranteed entry. The ticketing system allows bookings up to seven days in advance; cancellation is possible up to 48 hours before the booked date.

For planning the bathing day, a traffic light system was introduced that shows how busy the pools are. Green stands for free spaces, while red signals overcrowding. So if you want to spontaneously jump into the cool water, you should take a look beforehand! “I miss the days when you could just go to the bathroom,” said a disappointed father as he searched for the required identification document.

Ticket prices and additional regulations

When asked about ticket prices, those seeking advice learned that they can range between 6 and 7 euros, depending on the category of outdoor pools, although reduced prices are also offered for children and young people. At some outdoor pools, visitors can also hope for heated water sources, while others rely on the energy source. However, a pleasant stay looks different if you constantly keep in mind that pets are not allowed, smoking weed is banned on the premises and nudism is only allowed in certain zones.

Nevertheless, many people were still looking forward to the summer season. Although they have to adapt to new regulations, the bit of freedom on the water is still very important to many Berliners.