Prolog – Prologue

Free Swimming
Together?!
Bathing and swimming have a long tradition in the south-west: rivers, lakes, thermal springs, Roman thermal baths, bathhouses, outdoor and indoor pools have been and still are used for this purpose. How ‘free’ swimming is allowed is subject to historical change. The idea of what ‘swimming freely’ actually means is also changing: Where can you swim? What clothing should be worn? And above all: who is allowed to swim with whom? The poor with the rich? Women with men? Locals with immigrants?

The exhibition ‘Free Swimming – Together?!’ shows which bathing centres were created for which groups and who swam there together or not: princely baths and baths for ‘poor people’ in the 19th century; ‘public baths’ for everyone – but strictly separated by gender – in the German Empire; sports baths in which ‘the new man’ could steel his body after 1918; ‘family baths’ from which the Jewish population and other ‘undesirables’ were excluded after 1933.

Even in a democracy, not everyone wanted or wants to get into the water together. War invalids or people with disabilities were given separate baths. Today, some women only feel ‘free’ in swimming pools without men; racists want to restrict free access to swimming pools. How freely people can swim tells us how free society as a whole is.

Take a pen and write on or in your locker what you associate with going swimming.

Even today, not everyone can swim equally freely. People are excluded, discriminated against, insulted and prevented from participating in social life. The magazine headlines report on such incidents in swimming pools and outdoor pools. The video shows interviews on this topic. These are subtitled in English.

Is the swimming pool a place for everyone?

Here we take a closer look at four issues that prevent people from swimming freely.

1. ableism

Swimming pools and outdoor pools often have barriers that prevent people with disabilities from being able to swim.

The question is asked what is needed so that everyone can swim. There is also a checklist for barrier-free swimming. Do you know of any swimming pools that are completely barrier-free?

2. racism

No room for everyone? It’s written on the towel. The aim is to make it clear that not everyone is welcome in the swimming pool. A post reports a racist incident at the outdoor pool.

Have you ever witnessed or been affected by a racist incident in a swimming pool?

Vote with the stickers.

JA = yes | Nein = no

3. classism

Swimming pool entrance fees are getting more and more expensive. Admission prices for swimming pools in Germany have risen by 8.4 per cent since 2020. That’s on your wallet. But it doesn’t stop there. When you plan a visit to the pool, you also have to pay for the journey to and from the pool, swimming costumes and so on.

There is a poster on the locker wall that clearly shows the price increases for admission.

4. sexism

The question on the coat hanger ‘Why am I not allowed to wear what I want?’ refers to the issue of sexism. Too much fabric, too little fabric – women are often criticised for what they wear in the swimming pool.

The three shampoo bottles are removable. On them, the number of assaults against sexual self-determination in outdoor swimming pools is thematised.

1st shampoo bottle:

How many offences against sexual self-determination were recorded by the police between 2015 and 2021 against males in outdoor swimming pools in Baden-Württemberg?

68* (Source: Baden-Württemberg state parliament, printed matter 17/3077)

*The figures only refer to reported cases. The number of unreported cases is likely to be much higher! Due to the corona pandemic in 2020 and 2021, the figures are lower.

2nd shampoo bottle:

How many offences against sexual self-determination were recorded by the police between 2015 and 2021 against women in outdoor swimming pools in Baden-Württemberg?

Back| Answer:

284* (Source: Baden-Württemberg state parliament, printed matter 17/3077)

*The figures only refer to cases reported to the police. The number of unreported cases is likely to be much higher! Due to the corona pandemic in 2020 and 2021, the figures are lower.

3. shampoo bottle

The figures are taken from the police crime statistics (PKS). Only offences that are punishable under the thirteenth section of the German Criminal Code were recorded, for example sexual assault, abuse and exhibitionist acts. Verbal harassment is not included. Upskirting – the violation of intimate areas through image recordings – has only been a criminal offence since 2021.

There are repeated calls for more partitions in swimming pools so that everyone feels comfortable. The video shows interviews on the subject. These are subtitled in English.

Now it’s your turn. Cast your vote: Do we want to swim together or separately in the future?

GETRENNT = separate | GEMEINSAM = together

On the mirror is the slogan: Every body is a swimming pool body!

#hdgbw #FreiSchwimmen

Take a selfie with the mirror. If you like, post it on Instagram and link us.

What do you need in the swimming pool to feel good? Sort the magnets with the corresponding terms into the swimming pool bag. If you like, you can also label the magnets yourself.

Now the time has come. You have immersed yourself in the topic. It’s time to dive into the story. Keep the question in mind: Don’t we just have to tolerate each other so that we can all swim freely? It’s also at the lower edge of the spindrift you’re currently facing.