{"id":40372,"date":"2026-06-20T17:58:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T17:58:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/40372\/"},"modified":"2026-06-20T17:58:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T17:58:11","slug":"hundreds-of-swimmers-lobby-to-end-berlins-ban-on-spree-river-swimming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/40372\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundreds of swimmers lobby to end Berlin’s ban on Spree River swimming"},"content":{"rendered":"

Several hundred people in Berlin took part in a swim-in protest on Saturday against the century-old ban on bathing in the city’s Spree River.<\/p>\n

A spokesman for the Flussbad Berlin association said there were 500 swimmers and 500 people demonstrating on the banks.<\/p>\n

With temperatures nearing 30 degrees Celsius, swimmers entered the Spree canal in central Berlin around midday. Among them was Steffen Krach, the Social Democratic Party’s lead candidate for Berlin’s September state election.<\/p>\n

“Vote out 101 years of the bathing ban!” the association demanded.<\/p>\n

Bathing in the inner-city stretch of the Spree in Berlin has not been allowed since May 20, 1925. The growing pollution of the river and associated health risks were the reason at the time.<\/p>\n

The association, which held a similar protest last year, is calling for a test bathing area to be set up, to be followed by further bathing spots if possible. It argues that water quality is good enough for safe swimming more than 80% of the time.<\/p>\n

The city’s water regulations totally prohibit bathing in the Spree in central Berlin. The Berlin Senate, the top municipal authority, has so far seen no reason to amend the rules or allow exceptions. Officials note water quality can deteriorate, for example after a thunderstorm.<\/p>\n

Swimming in major European rivers has gained in popularity in recent years. During the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, the triathlon events were held in the Seine, though several competitors fell ill after swimming the Paris river.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Two banners reading “Swimmable City!” and “Bad Berlin” are displayed on the banks of the Spree, during the swimming demonstration, held under the slogan “Vote to End 101 Years of the Swimming Ban!”. The demonstration was held to protest the ban on swimming in the Spree. (is associated with: \u00abHundreds of swimmers lobby to end Berlin’s ban on Spree River swimming\u00bb) Carsten Koall\/dpa<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Several hundred people in Berlin took part in a swim-in protest on Saturday against the century-old ban on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40373,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[18,25684,8125,8126],"class_list":["post-40372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-berlin","tag-berlin","tag-berlin-senate","tag-spree","tag-swimming"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40372"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40372\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}