A Berlin mother has gone viral after saying she no longer feels safe using the public swimming pool she enjoyed as a child, describing it as “a disaster” for women because of the “clientele” she encountered.
In a video shared online, the woman said she returned to the Kombibad Gropiusstadt outdoor pool in Berlin’s Neukölln district—one of the German capital’s most ethnically diverse neighbourhoods—for the first time in around six years because her son wanted to go. But she said the visit only confirmed why she had stayed away.
“The clientele there is just awful,” she said. “It’s bad, and especially as a woman, it’s a disaster.” She added that she remained fully dressed because she did not feel comfortable enough to change into a swimsuit or leave her belongings unattended.
The pool has previously been the scene of large fights involving groups of young people, while police are now a common presence at some of Berlin’s most problematic swimming pools following repeated incidents of violence and harassment.
Official crime figures have added to the debate. According to Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), non-German citizens accounted for 64.6% of identified suspects in sexual assault cases at swimming pools and bathing areas in 2024.
Recent cases, including the alleged sexual assault of four underage girls by an Afghan national and the alleged rape of a girl at a swimming pool in Aachen, have further intensified concerns over safety at Germany’s public pools.
