A Rostock nightclub has apologised after bouncers were reported to police for turning away partygoers who couldn’t show a German passport or Personalausweis as ID.

Partygoers rejected from Rostock club for not having German passport

A group of youngsters in Rostock, Schleswig-Holstein, claim to have been rejected from a nightclub for not having German passports or Personalausweis issued to German citizens.

After being turned away from the LT Club door, the young Ecuadorian man and his friends reported the events to the police. An Instagram video documenting the events has now gone viral. Police informed the group that nothing could be done since the nightclub was a private space, meaning bouncers were free to turn away who they liked.

According to the young man’s post, police told the group, “Due to internal house regulations [of the club] unfortunately we cannot force them to let you guys in. You must understand that this is outside of our control.”

Speaking to German tabloid newspaper Bild, a Russian-born woman who was part of a separate group claimed that she had also been rejected on the basis of her nationality. “Myself and other visitors showed our permanent residence permits at the door but we weren’t let in,” she explained.

Lawyer claims police and nightclub were in the wrong

In response to the viral video, lawyer Arndt Kempgens explained in an online video that he believed the LT Club was not in the legal position to reject the partygoers and police had not properly understood the limitations of the bouncers’ authority.

“Fundamentally, nightclub owners can wave in or reject any customer they like, private autonomy applies here”. However, private autonomy is limited by the General Equality Treatment Act (AGG), the lawyer explained. “The AGG rules that people cannot be treated unequally without an objective reason [...] for safety reasons for example, but not based on nationality”.

In response to the furore, the nightclub published an apology on Instagram. “As a club, we would like to clearly and unmistakably distance ourselves from any kind of discrimination and right-wing ideas. Our values are based on openness, respect and tolerance, independent of origin, religion or background,” the post read.

The club called the events “regrettably unfortunate” and said staff would ensure “such misunderstandings” did not occur again. Despite having disabled comments on the apology post, a number of responses were written on other posts, with some condemning the club’s actions and others calling for more events where only German citizens are allowed entry.

Thumb image credit: Yotko / Shutterstock.com