By Hannes Ravic, Katja Colmenares and Sandra Basan
They are places of joy and relaxation. Full of children’s laughter, ice cream at the poolside and maybe a bit of sunburn. But: Open-air pools in Germany are increasingly becoming the scene of unbridled violence! Mass brawls, death threats, sexual assaults.
It is not uncommon for those who are supposed to keep order to be attacked: the lifeguards.
In Berlin, the situation recently escalated so much that the staff at an outdoor pool called in sick. The result: the pool was closed indefinitely.
BZ met a lifeguard who has been working at a Berlin outdoor pool for many years. He wants to remain anonymous and is afraid for his job and his health. But he no longer wants to remain silent, saying: “Everything has been crazy since this year.”
The lifeguard about…
… lack of respect
“Pensioners or families with small children come in the mornings, everything is nice there. When I speak to them, they listen to me and treat me with respect. But then the young people ganged up around noon. These are groups of over 20 people. I have nothing more to report. If I speak to them because they cause stress on the diving board or the slide, I get insulted. “We’re going to fuck your mother. I’ll stab you, you son of a bitch,” are perfectly normal reactions. But these are death threats. I shrug and try not to let that get to me. Otherwise I would break.”
… unbridled violence
“Insults, death threats, punches and kicks against me and my colleagues. This is what I experience almost every day. Insults every day, physical violence once a week. A colleague was sitting on the observation tower and was attacked by young people up there. That was this season.”
… the offender
“80 percent of our bathers have an Arabic background. The thugs are youths from the district. They are not refugees, but frustrated kids with a migration background between the ages of twelve and 20.”
… the victims
“Women, gays, queer people and Jews who just want to relax here are specifically insulted, spat on and physically attacked by the perpetrators. These people don’t fit into their worldview and are fair game. I often don’t even get it. I usually stand at the edge of the pool and keep an eye on the swimmers.”
Summer 2022: rampage in the summer pool at the islander Photo: Private
… the fear among lifeguards
“We all want to come home safe. We hear so often that the perpetrators are waiting for us outside or know where we live. We fear for our physical safety and only hope that the day will be over soon. Luckily I live far away from the bathroom.”
… the consequences of “TOBENOHNE”
“The TOPLESS issue among women is one more problem. Some feel provoked by the bare-breasted women. That’s where worlds collide. And where tectonic plates rub against each other, volcanoes erupt. A fire belt runs through the bathroom. There are always violent outbursts. I don’t know whether that will play out in the next few years.”
… powerless security guards
“More than 20 men patrol the pool every day, checking admission and bags. Most are of Arab-Turkish origin, but they can’t resist the heated atmosphere. In the end, the only way they can protect themselves is to call the police. Colleagues do a good job at admission control. But you can’t identify everyone who is banned from entering the building with the staff, and you certainly don’t recognize first-time offenders.”
… police on the premises
“Mobile guards often stand in front of hotspot bathrooms. Plainclothes police officers patrol the site. It’s like a prison, but actually it’s an outdoor pool. The perpetrators have more respect for the police than for the lifeguards. But if the mood changes again, the bathroom still has to be cleared.”
More police than bathers. Only then did the situation in the Prinzenbad calm down (archive photo) Photo: Private
… lack of support
“I have the impression that my bosses don’t care about the situation of us lifeguards. I have never received an anti-violence, de-escalation or self-defense course. We have never been offered psychological help after the attacks either. We are completely on our own.”
… frustration among colleagues
“There used to be cold, rainy days in summer when the bathroom was empty and we could breathe deeply. Now it is hot and sunny from May to September. And the bathroom keeps getting fuller. The pressure mounts, the noise and the general disrespect. It all comes together here. Added to this is my powerlessness, that I cannot change anything about the situation. That frustrates me. Actually, I want to do a good job. Making sure that everyone has a nice day at the pool and that there are no accidents.”
… sick leave
“I assume that the sick colleagues wanted to make a statement about the conditions in the bathroom – and therefore called in sick. Or the job made them sick.”
… possible solutions
“When there are fewer people on the site, the atmosphere is much more relaxed. That would definitely calm things down. But what happens then in front of the door, I don’t want to imagine. Camera surveillance is a good idea. But for data protection reasons, this is certainly difficult again in Germany. And: constant police presence on the premises and support from social workers.”
At the end of the conversation, BZ asks the lifeguard if he would take his own children to the outdoor pool. He just shakes his head and says: “No, I’d rather go out into the country and jump into a lake.”
This is how the city of Berlin talks itself out
BZ asked the Berlin baths company and confronted those responsible with the lifeguard’s statements that the employees were not properly trained.
The answer: “The representations are wrong. The Berlin baths companies do offer prevention training for their employees – in cooperation with the Berlin police, among other things. Crisis intervention and psychological support are available in acute situations. Team days in all pools serve to give the teams support and make work in the pools easier.”
And: “There are no targeted attacks on individual groups of guests in the Berlin pools.”
BZ showed these answers to the lifeguard, who followed up: “Everything is still being talked about. I have never received an invitation to anti-violence or de-escalation training. The Team Days take place once a year, usually at the beginning of the summer season. There they train how, for example, the bathroom can be cleared quickly if there is a smell of chlorine gas or other accidents. Personal sensitivities such as reactions to insults and attacks are not discussed there.”
Regarding the attacked visitors, the man repeated to BZ: “The victims are women, queer people and Jews, I’ve experienced that myself.”
Chief lifeguard strengthens informant’s back
Peter Harzheim (67) is President of the Federal Association of German Swimming Champion eV and has stood at the edge of the pool for 45 years. He says: “Most baths are peaceful. There are problems where there are disproportionately large numbers of people with an Arab migration background. One time someone stood in front of me and threatened: ‘If you come out of the bathroom afterwards, we’ll flatten you.’ There were always verbal attacks, also from Germans. But the aggressiveness has really increased enormously, as has the disrespect, especially towards women or queer people. I was spat on myself for helping a colleague.”
Peter Harzheim (67), President of the Federal Association of German Swimming Champion eV Photo: Andreas Buck
Harzheim says on the subject of employee training: “Our association offers de-escalation courses, including in-house training. This is done by police prevention officers who have gained experience in hotspot regions.”
But: “The employer has to register his employees. Every pool operator is obliged to train their employees in this regard.”