On hot days, outdoor pools become hotspots. However, in the pandemic, access is usually regulated via online tickets. That’s why it gets heated in some places. The bathrooms rely on more security services.
Berlin – Even in the second Corona summer, the spaces in the outdoor pools are limited due to the pandemic – in midsummer weather, this can cause displeasure and crowding. For example, the heat goes to the head of some bathers in the capital.
According to a spokeswoman, the Berlin baths companies have therefore partially increased the security staff on the hot days. In the heat, there are therefore more inconsistencies.
In order to avoid overcrowding during Corona times, visitors in many places have to reserve time slots in advance or buy online tickets. Capacities are therefore quickly exhausted, especially on hot days. Anyone who spontaneously made their way to the outdoor pool could not be admitted.
Because there were disputes between waiting bathers, the city of Bayreuth is also considering deploying a security service in front of the outdoor pool. In Berlin’s outdoor swimming pools in the Neukölln and Kreuzberg districts, security guards from private companies have been on duty for years. Bathrooms were evacuated several times because the mood had turned. There have also been isolated mass brawls.
The German Life Saving Society (DLRG) in Württemberg, on the other hand, sees no safety problems. A spokesman for the city of Stuttgart also says: “We are not aware of any jostling.” There is security on site, but the employees mainly have to make sure that the distance is kept in the queues.
In Frankfurt am Main, guests had to be turned away in the past hot summer days, but there was no major friction, says the managing director of the BäderBetriebe Frankfurt GmbH, Boris Zielinski. Most people know that they have to buy tickets in advance and then won’t even come to the swimming pool if all seats are already gone.
In Hanau, Hesse, the Heinrich-Fischer-Bad was at times completely booked out on the hot days, guests would have to leave or wait in front of the entrance until others came out, says the managing director of Hanauer Bäder GmbH, Uwe Weier. In some cases, this has led to resentment and discussions. However, there have been no major incidents – in such cases one relies on a security service who actively speaks to people in order to de-escalate.
A visitor magnet in the Rhine-Main area is also the Langener Waldsee on warm summer days. In normal years, up to 15,000 people cavort on the bathing lake between Frankfurt and Darmstadt. This year, however, the offer is limited to 5000 places per day. Access is only available via tickets purchased in advance on the Internet. The bottleneck at Langener Waldsee is primarily the parking spaces – the area at the bathing lake only offers around 700. If you want to travel by car, you should therefore not only buy an online ticket to visit the lake, but also a parking ticket – or consider another way of getting here.
In the past year, the situation was sometimes chaotic because visitors unauthorized parking their cars on a federal road, parked rescue and forest paths and even triggered a forest fire. Therefore, traffic tickets are consistently distributed and cars are towed away, says a spokesman for the city of Langen. dpa
