Overview

• Flussbad Berlin led a second organized ‘Mitschwimm-Demo’ on August 12 with between 400 and 700 participants entering the Spree between Schinkelplatz and Schlossfreiheit.
• Event organizers supplied baggage drop, mobile showers and canoe stewards to guide swimmers and maintain the official demonstration zone.
• Wasserschutzpolizei officers removed individuals found swimming outside the authorized area near Hauptbahnhof, Mühlendamm and Rathausbrücke.
• The Berlin Senate’s transport and environment administration reiterated that the Spree’s federal shipping status, strong currents and outstanding water-quality concerns prevent any change to the 1925 bathing ban.
• Kompetenzzentrum Wasser continues scheduled testing of river conditions while no formal agreement on pilot swimming sites or a permanent lifting of the prohibition has been reached.