2023-06-22 23:38:59
Demian McGinnisby BBC News – Berlin
1 hour ago
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Violent incidents threaten the idea of social communication on which the German-backed outdoor swimming pools were built
A series of mass brawls at outdoor swimming pools in Germany has led to calls for better security at popular summer pools.
With temperatures rising across the country, many citizens of Germany are heading to the local outdoor pools in their neighbourhoods.
Over the past few years, the beginning of the summer every year has also witnessed widespread violence and mass brawls in outdoor swimming pools.
It seems that this summer is not much different from its predecessors.
Many incidents of fights have been reported in the past week alone.
On Wednesday evening, a quarrel broke out, prompting dozens of police officers to evacuate and close one of the outdoor swimming pools in the Neukölln district of the capital, Berlin.
On Monday, the police closed another swimming pool in the Pankow region after a dispute broke out between two young men and two lifeguards in the pool, which led to a mass brawl involving about 30 people.
And behind a brawl, which took place over the weekend, in which more than 40 people participated in a swimming pool in the city of Mannheim, southwestern Germany, several injuries. A 24-year-old man was reported to have sustained multiple stab wounds with a sharp knife.
There are no official figures indicating the high incidence of violence and quarrels in open swimming pools belonging to public municipalities.
Berlin pool operators say these are isolated, isolated incidents that have grabbed the headlines and do not reflect the situation of the millions of people who frequent the thousands of state-run outdoor pools across Germany.
But police officials say they are concerned.
“The ability to resolve conflicts calmly and without violence has diminished,” Jochen Kobelke, head of Germany’s largest police union, told RND.
There are many discussions and theories in the media that try to give an explanation about the reasons and motives behind the quarrels in the open swimming pools.
Some say a combination of high temperatures, alcohol and large crowds of semi-naked young men is the reason behind such unacceptable behaviour.
Some media comments blame “youth gathering places” or the so-called “clans”, which usually sound tinged with racism (all of these words have symbolism for immigrant groups).
But pool operators point to a broader change in the traditional outdoor pool culture in some German cities, with a reported rise in assaults and disrespect for lifeguards.
Police officials are calling for pool operators and lifeguards to work together with the police on a joint strategy to intervene quickly before disputes escalate.
Suggestions include hiring private security guards who enforce stricter rules at the gates and at the pool, to stop fights before they happen.
In general, there are few swimming venues with such a wide mix of ages and social groups as those supported by the state, or “free pools” a German model popularized after 1945 for the purpose of social equality, health and sociability at affordable prices.
Supervising this type of swimming pool, which is almost free, would be contrary to the basic idea on which it was established.
But German society today is less hierarchical than ever. So, in Berlin, these pools already rely on security guards to keep the peace.
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