A Berlin pool was forced to cancel an event that excluded white swimmers after it faced a backlash.
The Volksbühne, a theatre in the city centre, was allocated €300,000 (£255,000) of taxpayers’ money to open a “people’s swimming pool”, which it initially pledged would be “open for all who are seeking to cool down in the increasingly hot Berlin summers”.
But the Volksbühne advertised an event scheduled for Friday in which the pool would be open “exclusively to black communities” for six hours as part of a collaboration with the non-governmental organisation Each One Teach One.
Stefan Evers, the city’s finance minister, who is running as the Christian Democrat candidate for mayor, said: “I don’t believe in dividing people by skin colour.”
He added: “I understood the ‘People’s Swimming Pool’ as a swimming pool for everyone.”
The pool was forced to cancel the event after facing a backlash – Volodymyr Sindieiev/Anadolu via Getty Images
The move was also opposed by Christoph Meyer, the centre-Right Free Democratic Party candidate, who said: “Public spaces must bring society together, not segregate people based on skin colour.”
Elif Eralp, the Left Party’s candidate for mayor and the current front-runner in September’s election, defended the exclusion of white swimmers, saying: “On Friday, an association has booked the pool for its members legally. In doing so, the People’s Swimming Pool provides access for people who are frequently affected by exclusion and racism. Labelling this as a form of discrimination is very revealing.”
Steffen Krach, the Social Democratic Party candidate, added: “One can debate the decision made by the [event organisers], but not at the expense of people of colour.”
The event has since been cancelled, with the theatre complaining that it had become a “target of Right-wing and racist incitement”.
Each One Teach One said it had received threatening and racist emails and could no longer guarantee the “physical and psychological safety” of the “black, African and Afro-diasporic” youth for whom the event was intended.
The intended event was in collaboration with the non-governmental organisation Each One Teach One – John MACDOUGALL / AFP via Getty Images
Matthias Lilienthal, the theatre director, has said that he would rebook, and would appear at the swimming pool to discuss the issue with members of the public on Friday.
This scorching summer has broken records for Germany’s hottest day ever, and 12,500 people, mostly aged 85 or older, have died owing to the extreme heat, according to the Robert Koch Institute.
Swimming pools are increasingly a battleground for culture wars in Germany, with one in Halle, in eastern Germany, accused of racism after announcing that only fluent German speakers were allowed to enter. The pool claimed this was necessary to keep bathers safe and make sure they could follow instructions.
After a spate of punch-ups and sexual harassment on hot summer days, Berlin’s swimming pools introduced a rule in 2025 that guests had to bring identification to be allowed to enter.
In 2025 after a particularly violent incident, Friedrich Merz, the chancellor, blamed an “unbelievable lack of respect for women and police in particular cultural circles”, apparently referring to migrants from the Middle East.