Security staff working at an outdoor swimming pool in Berlin have been caught reselling tickets at double the price to guests desperate to take a dip.

Berlin pool security staff caught touting tickets

According to Tagesspiegel, security staff working at Sommerbad am Insulaner in the Steglitz district of Berlin have been caught reselling swimming pool tickets to prospective guests for almost double the original price.

In May 2024, Senator for Sport in Berlin Iris Sprenger announced that several security measures would be introduced at Berliner Bäder Betriebe outdoor swimming pools in Neukölln, Kreuzberg, Steglitz-Insulaner, Pankow and Humboldthain, including an online ticketing system.

The new system means that after 10am, tickets for the five pools sold are exclusively on the internet, where customers can pay with PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Mastercard and Visa, but not with an EC Karte.

Tagesspiegel reported that, if they were unable to buy a ticket in person or with their EC Karte, guests were approached by security staff who offered to sell the 5,50 euro ticket to them “under the table” for 10 euros.

The online ticketing system, alongside a new rule that all visitors over the age of 14 must show an ID card upon entrance to an outdoor pool run by Berliner Bäder Betriebe and an increased security presence, were all policies adopted in response to increasingly regular, large fights breaking out at outdoor swimming pools in Berlin and other German cities in the past few summers.

Berliner Bäder Betriebe say security guards have faced consequences

Approached for comment by Tagesspiegel, a representative from Berliner Bäder Betriebe confirmed that security guards had been touting tickets.

“[A]ppropriate personnel-related consequences” have since been taken, according to the spokesperson.

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