The Spree swimming ban in 2026

Can you swim in the Spree in Berlin in 2026?

No. Bathing in the inner-city Spree is banned, and the state confirmed in May 2026 that there are no exemptions, not even for organised swim demos.

The Tagesspiegel reported on 20 May 2026 that bathing in the inner-city Spree is completely prohibited under Berlin's bathing water ordinance (Badegewässerverordnung), that the ban in the Spree Canal stays, and that it also covers 100 m upstream and downstream of every bridge. In the centre, that leaves no gap.

A day earlier the environment administration had put it bluntly, as quoted by the Berliner Zeitung: "Wer im Rahmen dieser Veranstaltungen in den Spreekanal steigt, handelt daher rechtswidrig und auf eigenes Risiko." Anyone who gets into the Spree Canal at these events acts unlawfully and at their own risk.

The Berliner Kurier summed up the rule for summer 2026: you may only go in the water at one of Berlin's 39 official bathing spots. The Spree, the canals, harbours, locks and the area around every bridge are all excluded.

Why has swimming in the Spree been banned since 1925?

Water quality first, traffic second. The ban started on 20 May 1925 because of pollution, and today the main problem is sewage overflow after heavy rain.

Berlin's old centre has a combined sewer system: rainwater and wastewater share the same pipes. After a downpour the system overflows into the Spree, and bacteria levels jump for days. That is the core of the health office's objection, and it is why even the protest swims of 2026 kept getting cancelled after rain.

The second reason is that the Spree is a federal waterway. Tour boats, barges and police boats use it all day, and the river through Mitte is lined with bridges and quay walls with no easy way out. The Senate pointed to federal shipping law as the reason it cannot make exceptions near bridges.

What happened to the 2026 pilot bathing spot in the Spree Canal?

It did not open. The state health office judged in January 2026 that the Spree Canal carries a lasting elevated health risk and advised against designating it as bathing water.

In May 2025 the plan was a pilot bathing spot at Friedrichsgracht by the Humboldt Forum, open "from summer 2026" at a cost of around EUR 1 million, subject to water quality (Entwicklungsstadt). The Lageso assessment of 14 January 2026 found a lasting elevated health risk from sewer overflows and called the designation "nicht zu befürworten", not to be recommended (Entwicklungsstadt).

Nothing opened in summer 2026. After the Berlin state election on 20 September 2026 we found no new announcement on the Spree Canal as of late October.

What is Flussbad Berlin, and what happened at the 2026 swim demos?

Flussbad Berlin is a group that has campaigned since 2012 to make the 1.8 km Spree Canal around Museum Island swimmable. Its 2026 swim demos mostly ended on the bank because of water quality.

The association (Flussbad Berlin) ran its first Flussbad Cup on 12 July 2015 with about 80 swimmers. In 2026 it turned the ban into an election issue with a series of swim-ins under the slogan "101 Jahre Badeverbot abwählen!", vote out 101 years of the bathing ban, leading up to the election day.

The weather kept winning. The May date was called off after rain and thunderstorms. On 20 July, after heavy rain, the organisers said the water was not good enough and about 100 people protested on the bank instead (dpa via Volksstimme). On 20 August the swim was called off again and several dozen people rallied at Schinkelplatz, with board chair Jan Edler arguing that safe swimming in the Spree Canal is already possible and only needs political will (dpa via Volksstimme).

Our take: the cancellations make the health office's point for it. A river that is unswimmable a few days after every storm needs a warning system before it gets a bathing spot.

Where can you swim in Berlin instead?

At the Badeschiff, a floating pool in the Spree in Treptow, or at one of Berlin's 39 official bathing spots on the lakes, such as Wannsee, Müggelsee or Plötzensee.

The Badeschiff at Eichenstraße 4 in Alt-Treptow is the closest you get to swimming in the Spree: a pool built from an old barge hull, floating in the river. It reopened on 20 June 2026 and sells two-hour slots, bookable up to four days ahead, and they sell out on hot days. Top10 Berlin gives EUR 8 a slot; check the current price on the Arena Berlin site.

For open water, head for the lakes. Our guide to swimming in the Spree lists the lake beaches and how to get there by S-Bahn.

How can you enjoy the Spree without swimming?

Get on it. A self-drive electric boat or a small catamaran puts you at water level, and the eastern stretch by the Oberbaum Bridge is the liveliest part of the river.

GoBoat rents electric picnic boats for up to eight people from Stralauer Allee, by the Oberbaum Bridge. No licence is needed, you bring your own food, and the Badeschiff and the Molecule Men are a short way upstream. It is the closest thing to a day at the river that the rules allow. The price is per boat, which makes it cheap for a group.

If you would rather be driven, the solar catamaran from the same harbour runs almost silently past the East Side Gallery to the government quarter. For more on that stretch, see the East Side Gallery by boat.

Your own electric boat for up to eight people, no licence needed. Bring a picnic and steer it east towards Treptow yourself.

★ 4.9 · 1 to 4 hours · from $66

Explore a self-drive boat → Tour details

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