Overview

• Mombacher Freibad still demands children’s passports, parents’ identity cards and sometimes a family register to qualify for the €16 family ticket.
• Operator Torsten Traxel defends the checks as necessary to prevent misuse, noting staff cannot verify relationships by sight under new name-rights regulations.
• Ann-Christin von Kieter of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für das Badewesen calls the document demands unusual and warns they could discourage non-traditional families and spontaneous visits.
• Mayor Günter Beck has formally opened discussions with the Mainzer Schwimmverein to seek less burdensome ways to confirm family eligibility.
• There is no legal mandate for identity checks at public pools, and critics say the policy adds unnecessary bureaucracy during a period of rising fees, which have increased by 5.7 percent since last season.