IN PICTURES: Berlin bathers demand lifting of swimming ban in Spree river
A participant swims with a placard with the lettering 'Break the bathing ban'. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP)
While Berlin's outer districts boast plentiful opportunities for wild swimming, mostly in the city's lakes, doing so in the Spree has been banned since 1925.
The ban was lifted briefly on Tuesday for the demonstration, but activists want a stretch of the river called the Spree canal to be permanently open to the public.
The same spot was popular with bathers in the early twentieth century before city authorities decided pollution from the expanding metropolis had made the water too dirty.
Swimmers line up to take a dip in the Spree river during a second swimming demonstration. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP)
While industrial pollution is no longer a problem, sewage is still periodically discharged into the river when rainfall overwhelms the city's drainage system.
Proponents of swimming in the Spree say that technology already exists that would permit water quality to be monitored to ensure it is safe for swimming.
Advertisement
Alisan Yasar, a 28-year-old lawyer, told AFP after emerging from the Spree that the swim was "wonderful" but admitted that "you do have to fight against certain preconceptions -- as a Berliner you have it in your head that you just don't go into the Spree".
Swimmers cheer at the protest, with the Berlin TV Tower in the background. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP)
Dilara, a 30-year-old marketing professional, was also pleasantly surprised at what was her first time in the river, despite living close by and jogging past it "hundreds of times".
READ ALSO:
Will Berlin open up the Spree river to bathers?
Advertisement
"I went in slowly and kept my head above water but then went all the way in," she said, adding: "I didn't want to come out!"
'Not a luxury'
The idea of reopening a section of the Spree has won the backing of some members of Berlin's city assembly but as with many infrastructure projects in the German capital, the idea has been beset by delays and disagreements over the necessary infrastructure.
Some have also objected to the cost that opening the river to bathers would entail, saying it's a luxury that cash-strapped Berlin can ill afford.
Katrin Androschin, one of the organisers of the demonstration, insisted it is "not a luxury to make a waterway that's already on hand open to the public".
She pointed out that a central location for river swimming would help avoid "people becoming sick because they have problems with the heat due to climate change".
Swimmers line up to take a dip in the Spree river. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP)
Perhaps the most famous recent example of a city-centre river being re-opened for bathers is the Seine in Paris.
Its waters were cleaned for the Paris 2024 Olympics and last month three swimming zones across the city were opened to the public for the first time since 1923.
Stretches of the Isar river in Munich have also been made safe for bathing after UV disinfection measures were introduced in the city's wastewater treatment plants.
Swimmers line up to take a dip in the Spree river during a second swimming demonstration. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP)
By Jastinder KHERA
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Int'l Business Times
3 hours ago
- Int'l Business Times
War-weary Ukrainians Find Solace By Frontline Lake
Raisa Ustimenko barely looked up as a fighter jet swooped overhead, roaring over the lakeshore in Sloviansk towards the agonisingly close war front in eastern Ukraine. The 67-year-old was more focused on rummaging through a pink plastic bag for the plums she brought for her summer picnic by the lake. "Take some of my plums... This one is the best -- the largest!" she told AFP as the noise from the fighter became deafening. Some beachgoers shrugged at the roar. Others shaded their eyes to watch the swerving Ukrainian Su-27 as it sped away towards the front just 20 kilometers (13 miles) away. The lakeside is busy on summer days with mostly elderly residents who stayed behind when half the population of Sloviansk fled the Russian advance. It is one of the pockets of relative normality even in areas near the front, where residents can seek some solace from the war and the heat. Russian troops are pushing toward Sloviansk, now within range of devastating glide bombs dropped from Russian warplanes, and drones that have left buildings across the city in ruins. In the face of uncertainty, Ustimenko said she needs to hold on to something positive. "It can be at the beach, it can be in a beautiful cup of coffee, it can be just a flower. You look at a flower and you feel happy," she said. "You forget about what's flying over the sky -- that's the most important thing. We won't be able to survive here otherwise." Omar Salih Rasheed, programme coordinator at the International Committee of the Red Cross Mental Health Support Programme, said such scenes are common across different conflicts. "People always look for the ways to adapt, to cope with what is happening," Rasheed said. "It does not mean that everyone is fine." Rasheed said the need for mental health support will grow after the fighting stops, and people take stock of what has happened to them. While the war continues, it is important "that communities can enjoy the little moments that they can." At the Sloviansk lakeside, Vyacheslav Shatalov, who works at a nautical-themed beach bar, said people might scatter if they hear explosions but still come back later in the day. "If they left in the morning, they'll be back by the evening to relax," said the 61-year-old, his skin weathered by a decade of summers at the resort. At his bar, decorated with a giant ship's wheel, Shatalov hands out beach mattresses as Coldplay blared from the radio. "Those who are really scared have left already, but the seasoned ones still come," he said. The beach features white wooden huts and a concrete shelter in case of attacks. But Mariana Rebets, 37, said she had never seen anyone using it. "If the alarm rings and we see smoke, we'll see what people do, and follow them," she said. "My husband said: if something flies over the lake, just dive," said Rebets, wearing a bright pink dress and huge sunglasses. Rebets regularly travels from relatively safer western Ukraine to spend a few days with her husband, a soldier stationed near the front. Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, about half of the population of Sloviansk fled, leaving only 53,000 in the former industrial city. Many of those who stayed are older residents attached to their homes, while younger people moved to safer areas. Ustimenko's family has moved away too. From the wilder side of the lake, she gazed at the water where her grandchildren once learned to swim. "Now they're not here. No one is here," she said. "We come here on our own, we look and remember, we rejoice." Russian troops are pushing toward Sloviansk, now within range of devastating glide bombs dropped from Russian warplanes AFP Russian forces have also stepped up drone attacks on other civilian hubs in the Donetsk region AFP
Local Germany
a day ago
- Local Germany
IN PICTURES: Berlin bathers demand lifting of swimming ban in Spree river
Billed by organisers as a "swim demonstration", the gathering saw swimmers cool off from the summer heat with colourful bathing costumes and even the odd inflatable raft against the backdrop of Berlin's famous cathedral and TV tower. A participant swims with a placard with the lettering 'Break the bathing ban'. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP) While Berlin's outer districts boast plentiful opportunities for wild swimming, mostly in the city's lakes, doing so in the Spree has been banned since 1925. The ban was lifted briefly on Tuesday for the demonstration, but activists want a stretch of the river called the Spree canal to be permanently open to the public. The same spot was popular with bathers in the early twentieth century before city authorities decided pollution from the expanding metropolis had made the water too dirty. Swimmers line up to take a dip in the Spree river during a second swimming demonstration. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP) While industrial pollution is no longer a problem, sewage is still periodically discharged into the river when rainfall overwhelms the city's drainage system. Proponents of swimming in the Spree say that technology already exists that would permit water quality to be monitored to ensure it is safe for swimming. Advertisement Alisan Yasar, a 28-year-old lawyer, told AFP after emerging from the Spree that the swim was "wonderful" but admitted that "you do have to fight against certain preconceptions -- as a Berliner you have it in your head that you just don't go into the Spree". Swimmers cheer at the protest, with the Berlin TV Tower in the background. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP) Dilara, a 30-year-old marketing professional, was also pleasantly surprised at what was her first time in the river, despite living close by and jogging past it "hundreds of times". READ ALSO: Will Berlin open up the Spree river to bathers? Advertisement "I went in slowly and kept my head above water but then went all the way in," she said, adding: "I didn't want to come out!" 'Not a luxury' The idea of reopening a section of the Spree has won the backing of some members of Berlin's city assembly but as with many infrastructure projects in the German capital, the idea has been beset by delays and disagreements over the necessary infrastructure. Some have also objected to the cost that opening the river to bathers would entail, saying it's a luxury that cash-strapped Berlin can ill afford. Katrin Androschin, one of the organisers of the demonstration, insisted it is "not a luxury to make a waterway that's already on hand open to the public". She pointed out that a central location for river swimming would help avoid "people becoming sick because they have problems with the heat due to climate change". Swimmers line up to take a dip in the Spree river. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP) Perhaps the most famous recent example of a city-centre river being re-opened for bathers is the Seine in Paris. Its waters were cleaned for the Paris 2024 Olympics and last month three swimming zones across the city were opened to the public for the first time since 1923. Stretches of the Isar river in Munich have also been made safe for bathing after UV disinfection measures were introduced in the city's wastewater treatment plants. Swimmers line up to take a dip in the Spree river during a second swimming demonstration. (Photo by John MACDOUGALL / AFP) By Jastinder KHERA
Int'l Business Times
a day ago
- Int'l Business Times
Auction Of World's Largest Mars Meteorite Sparks Ownership Debate
The recent auction of a Martian meteorite -- for a record-grabbing $5.3 million at Sotheby's New York -- has sparked questions over its provenance and renewed debate over who gets to claim rocks fallen from the heavens. The hefty 54-pound (25-kilogram) stone is the largest Martian meteorite ever discovered on Earth, according to its Sotheby's listing, and was found in November 2023 in the vast Saharan desert in Niger. The government of Niger has announced that it will open an investigation following the auction, saying it appears to "have all the characteristics of illicit international trafficking." On Friday, the government suspended exports of precious stones and meteorites until further notice. Sotheby's has rejected the accusations, insisting that the meteorite was "was exported from Niger and transported in line with all relevant international procedure." In light of the controversy, however, a review of the case is underway, a Sotheby's spokesperson told AFP. "The stone journeyed 140 million miles through space, and hurtled through Earth's atmosphere before crashing in the Sahara Desert," the Sotheby's listing said. Following its discovery, the jagged, ochre-colored stone was then sold to an international dealer, briefly exhibited in Italy, and eventually ended up in the auction catalog in New York. For American paleontologist Paul Sereno, who has worked closely with Niger's authorities for years, all signs suggest that the stone left the country "illicitly." "Everybody's anonymous -- from the person who found it, the dealers, the guy who bought it, everybody's anonymous," he told AFP, making no secret of his frustration. "If they had put on baseball gloves and caught the meteorite as was hurtling towards Earth before it landed in any country, they could claim it... but I'm sorry, it landed there. It belongs to Niger," he said. Laws governing the ownership of meteorites vary based on their point of impact. In the United States, for example, if a rock falls on private land, the property owners have ownership rights. In Niger, however, a law governs "national cultural patrimony," which includes rare mineralogical specimens, according to Matthieu Gounelle, a professor at France's National History Museum, and his father Max Gounelle, a French university professor. Both are specialists in regulations governing the collection and sale of meteorites. "In our opinion, there is no doubt that meteorites should be included among the rare mineralogical specimens" protected by Nigerien law, they told AFP. Beyond the legal battle and the possible involvement of a trafficking network, the sale of the meteorite also raises science ethics questions. The rock, named NWA 16788, has unique scientific research value. Much larger than other Martian meteorites that have been recorded to date, it offers a unique insight into the geological history of the Red Planet. Like other Martian meteorites, it is believed to have been ejected into space when an asteroid slammed into Mars. "This is nature's heritage. In many ways, it's world heritage, and it's telling us things about the cosmos. We should respect it," Sereno said. "It's not something to my mind that should be auctioned up to potentially disappear into someone's mantle."
