Region: Berlin
Welfare

Outdoor pools accessible to everybody: Don't exclude people through mandatory online tickets and ID!

Petition is addressed to
Iris Spranger, Senatorin für Inneres und Sport; Dr. Johannes Kleinsorg, Vorstandsvorsitzender der Berliner Bäder-Betriebe

3,036 signatures

Collection finished

3,036 signatures

Collection finished

  1. Launched June 2024
  2. Collection finished
  3. Prepare submission
  4. Dialog with recipient
  5. Decision

Petition is addressed to: Iris Spranger, Senatorin für Inneres und Sport; Dr. Johannes Kleinsorg, Vorstandsvorsitzender der Berliner Bäder-Betriebe

Short version

Many Berliners can't go to the swimming pool right now. They want to buy a ticket at the ticket office, but that's not possible.
Some outdoor pools only sell tickets at the ticket office until 10 am.
The company operating the pools is saying: We're doing this to make everything easier. People should buy their tickets online. 
We say: this new rule makes it much more difficult! 

Many people can't buy a ticket online. Because you need a credit card or a PayPal account to do this. You also need a device with internet access. And you have to know how it works in the first place. If some people can't go to the swimming pool for these reasons, it is discrimination.
We think that's unfair! The swimming pools should be there for everyone in Berlin. That's what the Berlin law says.

We demand: Swimming pools should sell tickets at the ticket office all day long.

We think it is becoming increasingly difficult to go to the swimming pool.
Since last year, people need to show ID to access the pool. But not everyone has ID. The swimming pools say this is for everyone's security. But for many people it's more difficult now.
Police are patrolling the swimming pool - sometimes even when nothing has happened. 
We want other solutions to be found for people to feel safe at the pool.

We demand: Admission to swimming pools without compulsory ID!

We also see that Berlin is cutting back on leisure activities and social services.
That's why the outdoor pool is all the more important! It must be easy to access.

We want swimming, sunbathing, fries and a good time for everyone! 
We say: outdoor swimming pools for everyone! 

#FreibadEinfachFuerAlle

Reason

Long version

Since the beginning of June, many visitors have been standing in front of closed gates at five outdoor swimming pools in Berlin, while others can simply walk in: Admission tickets at the ticket office are only sold until 10 am. Anyone who comes at lunchtime, in the afternoon or in the evening can only enter the pool with an online ticket

This regulation makes swimming difficult or even impossible for many people. For children and young people, for example: they don't have a credit card or PayPal account, which are required to buy an online ticket. Or for older people who have no experience of buying something online.

Berlin's public swimming pools are a public service that must be available to everyone - just like parks and public libraries. They have a mandate from the state of Berlin to offer "sporting activities, recreation and relaxation for members of all (!) population groups". 
This is no longer guaranteed here.

We demand: Ticket purchases at the ticket office must be possible again, during the entire opening hours!

Since summer 2023, an ID check has also been introduced in outdoor swimming pools. For many, this means an additional hurdle or even exclusion: e.g. for people who have no papers; for trans people who have to justify themselves to staff because of a photo or name on their ID. Or for people for whom their passport, residence permit or ID are important documents that they do not bring with them to the swimming pool. And which people are being checked most closely, while others are waved through?

We demand: Admission to the swimming pool without ID!

The Berliner Bäderbetriebe say that the ID requirement creates security. We demand that other solutions be found to tackle the existing problems - e.g. through more violence prevention and the effective enforcement of bans from the premises (Hausverbot).

Fewer and fewer people are able to swim and swimming pools are being closed in many places, as the German Lifesaving Association (DLRG) also emphasizes. Access to existing swimming pools must therefore be guaranteed. 

Instead, it is becoming increasingly difficult to go to the swimming pool - and this affects poor people in particular, who are especially dependent on the outdoor pool in the face of inflation and social cuts. This is unfair and discriminatory!

Easily accessible leisure facilities are also being dismantled in other places - for example on Tempelhofer Feld.

Low-threshold leisure facilities in Berlin must be preserved!

We don't want a swimming pool where people can only get in with ID, a PayPal account and a credit card.

We don't want a situation in which children have to approach unknown adults in front of the swimming pool so that they can buy them a ticket.

We don't want a swimming pool that is patrolled by police while budget is cut back for swimming pool staff, violence prevention and social services.

We want swimming, playing, relaxation, fries and a good time for everybody! 

Columbiabad, Prinzenbad, Insulaner, Sommerbad Humboldthain and Pankow - outdoor swimming pools for everybody!

#FreibadEinfachFuerAlle

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Petition details

Petition started: 06/16/2024
Petition ends: 09/30/2024
Region: Berlin
Topic: Welfare

This petition has been translated into the following languages

News

  • Dear signatories,

    together we have reached our goal: more than 3000 people have signed the petition against discriminatory access regulations at Berlin's outdoor swimming pools.

    Thank you for your support and for sharing the petition!

    The collection period for signatures has now ended. We are continuing to work on stopping the ID card requirement, the online ticket requirement and other discriminatory measures - so that next year it will be easier for everyone to go to the outdoor pool again. We will keep you up to date.

    For those who are on social media: check out our new account www.instagram.com/freibad_fuer_alle !

    Autumn greetings,

    Initiative Freibad Einfach Für Alle

  • Dear supporters! 

    Many of you have asked us about the ID requirement - which, just like the online ticket requirement, makes it more difficult for all people in Berlin to access outdoor pools. Many people are unhappy with this and would like the pool operators to revoke this regulation. That is why our petition is now also calling for the ID requirement to be lifted. 

    If you have already signed but do not want to support the new demand, you can withdraw your signature. You can do this on the petition website or in your user account on openpetition.de. Signatories who have personally signed a list can also withdraw their signature by sending an email to info@openpetition.net.

    Thank you for your support - and keep sharing the petition to get... further

  • We need a lot of signatures for the petition. Do you want to help the petition reach many people? Here's how you can become active:

    - Tell people around you about the petition:
    Tell friends, family, neighbors, colleagues and others about the petition.

    - Share the petition via messenger, email and social media:
    Anyone who is on the move digitally and would like to share the petition there, is welcome to use the image above and the short link www.openpetition.de/PoolsForEverybody . Also use the hashtag #FreibadFuerAlle if you are on social media!

    - Collect analog signatures:
    Do you know people who would sign and are more analog? Or do you want to collect signatures in front of your public outdoor pool? On the petition page, you can download... further

Das Publikum in den Freibädern hat sich total verändert in den letzten Jahren, kein Wunder bei den Preisen. Man hat immer mehr das Gefühl, nur noch gut organisierte Mittelschichtsleute sollen schwimmen gehen, alle anderen sind den Berliner Bäder Betrieben zu stressig. Aber Schwimm-/Freibäder sind für alle da!

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