Berlin is dramatically undersupplied when it comes to public swimming pools. The East Berlin working-class districts of Lichtenberg and Marzahn-Hellersdorf, which have the population of medium-sized cities but no outdoor pools, are in particularly bad shape. In order to cool off in the summer, many people go to nearby lakes. However, this will no longer be possible at Biesdorfer See.

The district government has come up with a crazy plan to make relaxing and swimming at the lake impossible. For 90,000 euros, the shore was filled up with rocks and a fence was erected to keep people away. In addition, security guards patrol the lake, along with the public order office and police. Reasons why bathing in this lake should be prevented after all these years are presented quite differently. At the beginning it was about alleged noise pollution or littering. However, the residents, who were not included in the brute rock solution, do not seem to swallow this and therefore now the allegedly lousy water quality is emphasized. Thereby even public sunbeds were built a few years ago. The real reason has to be that one does not want to finance lifeguards to the lakes of the district and therefore in the past already bathers drowned. Also the garbage disposal should have been adapted to the rising visitor numbers.

Lake Biesdorf before and after

All these measures, of course, do not stop the masses from swimming. The safety at the lake has deteriorated even further, as the first children have already suffered lacerations from playing on the rocks. The ban is ignored and the securities get to hear the frustration of the people. Nobody accepts that the district with its outdoor pool plans on the one hand makes no progress and on the other hand with a lot of effort closes the existing alternatives. Once again it shows that the masses in the working-class neighborhoods have nothing to expect from the rulers and will resist bans that are directed against them.