Encouraged by the return of swimming to the Seine in Paris, swimmers returned to the waters of Berlin’s Spree River last week, for the first time in 100 years—legally committing an illegal act, and pointing the way to a removal of the swimming ban, possibly by next summer.
The swimmers faced no legal action, since it was organized as a ‘registered protest,’ sponsored by Fluss Bad Berlin (River Bathing Berlin) that has advocated since 2012 for cleaning up the Spree and making it swimmable. Recently, they’ve received support from city officials who think it could happen by next year.
The swim-in took place in an 840-meter section of the Spree Canal in the Mitte district, one that might be the location of the first swimming area, since it is a section closed to boat traffic between Schlossplatz and the Bode Museum. Because the area is surrounded by historical monuments, careful planning is needed to provide river access without damage to the monuments.
To keep the water clean enough, plants that remove pollutants from water could be used, as well as a disinfection system with UV radiation that kicks in to sterilize waste-water overflows happen during heavy rain. Initial tests suggest that a combination of these measures can keep water in the Spree sufficiently safe for swimming.
