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MUNICH

Naked sauna rampage forces spa booze limit

Sick of booze-fuelled fights and uncontrollable guests in the saunas, Germany's largest leisure pool complex has put a three-drink limit on alcohol. The tipping point was when a drunk, naked guest bit two police officers.

Naked sauna rampage forces spa booze limit
Photo: DPA

The Erding Thermal baths near Munich, the largest such complex in Europe, has a bar set in a warm water pool, but has struggled with inebriated guests for years.

The final straw came last month when a man went on a naked rampage in the sauna area, the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper said on Tuesday.

Other guests complained that the 35-year-old Austrian was “misbehaving” in one of the saunas, the paper said, without providing exact details. When security guards arrived to escort him out, the man turned violent and throttled one of the guards, tried to push him into a pool and ripped out a chunk of his hair in the process.

Police were called and tried to restrain the man who, instead of going quietly, bit a female officer in the thigh, another in the arm and injured a third officer’s shoulder.

“This was the final straw,” Jörg Wund, Erding Thermal Baths manager told the Süddeutsche Zeitung. Visitors were clearly unable to decide themselves when to stop drinking, he said. “Self control does not work.”

The new drinks policy means guests pay with chips so bar staff can keep track of how much people have had.

Late last year two men aged 28 and 30 charged around the centre terrorising other visitors. They were four times over the driving limit.

And in June 2011, a 31-year-old man was fined €4,000 by a Bavarian court for punching a member of staff in the face. He and his wrestling club were visiting the baths and drank themselves senseless.

The Local/jcw

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