Outrage Over Taxpayer-Funded Swimming Pool

A taxpayer-funded swimming pool in Berlin ignited a fierce backlash after organizers announced plans to reserve the public facility “exclusively” for black children, teenagers and their families — before abruptly canceling the event amid threats and mounting political outrage.

The controversy erupted around Volksbad, a newly opened temporary public pool outside Berlin’s iconic Volksbühne theater. The project reportedly cost taxpayers roughly $346,000 and is advertised as a free place for anyone looking to cool off in the center of the German capital.

But on Friday, the pool was originally scheduled to remain closed to the general public until 6 p.m., with earlier access reserved exclusively for black communities as part of an event organized by the anti-discrimination group Each One Teach One.

The decision immediately triggered accusations that a publicly funded facility was being divided along racial lines.

Alice Weidel, leader of Germany’s right-wing Alternative für Deutschland party, blasted the event and questioned why taxpayers should be forced to finance it.

“Apartheid as a model for Germany?” Weidel wrote while sharing the pool’s schedule.

She added that white visitors were effectively being denied access to a taxpayer-funded project and called for public funding for such events to be cut.

The criticism was hardly limited to Germany’s political right.

Stefan Evers, a politician with the center-right Christian Democratic Union and the party’s leading candidate in Berlin’s state elections, also criticized the policy.

“Personally I don’t believe in categorizing by skin color,” Evers told Bild.

“I understood the ‘people’s swimming pool’ as a swimming pool for all.”

That name only added fuel to the controversy. “Volksbad” roughly translates to “people’s bath,” while the pool itself is promoted as being open to the public free of charge.

Alexander Krauss, head of the Berlin Taxpayers Federation, also tore into the project, questioning why a heavily subsidized theater should be spending public money on a swimming pool in the first place.

“I find it completely unacceptable that a theater heavily subsidized with public funds would misappropriate taxpayers’ money for a swimming pool,” Krauss said.

Around 300,000 euros were reportedly allocated to the 82-foot-long pool, which opened last Friday and is expected to remain in operation through Oct. 1.

Then, just hours before Friday’s controversial event was supposed to take place, organizers pulled the plug.

Each One Teach One said Thursday night that it had received racist emails, threats of violence and discriminatory comments after news of the event spread nationwide.

“The aim was to organize a pleasant summer afternoon for the participating children and young people and their families,” the group said.

Organizers said the intense media attention had created an environment in which they could no longer guarantee that the children and teenagers attending would feel safe — even with police or security present.

Volksbühne officials defended the concept behind the event, describing it as a “positive measure to promote structurally disadvantaged groups.”

But critics argued that whatever the intent, excluding people from a taxpayer-funded public pool because of their skin color crossed an obvious line.

With the event canceled, the pool was set to remain closed to everyone Friday rather than opening for the planned gathering.

The episode has now become another flashpoint in Europe’s growing debate over race, discrimination and whether policies intended to promote inclusion can themselves become discriminatory when access to public spaces is determined by skin color.