Berlin Pool Controversy: Ethnographer Calls Public Baths 'Ideological Battlefields'

A planned afternoon at Berlin's Volksbad pool, reserved exclusively for Black children and teenagers, was canceled after a social media backlash from right-wing and conservative figures who decried it as 'reverse racism.' The incident has sparked a broader debate about public spaces and their role as arenas for societal conflict. Esra Sarıoğlu, an ethnographer who has spent four summers researching Berlin's outdoor pools as political spaces, describes the phenomenon as 'infrastructure populism.' In an interview with der Freitag, she discusses how public pools have become 'ideological battlefields' where larger societal tensions are played out. Sarıoğlu was involved in the Volksbad project, under which the organization EOTO had organized the event. The cancellation highlights the increasing politicization of public amenities and the challenges of creating inclusive spaces in a polarized climate.