Berlin Allows Women to Swim Topless
Berlin, Germany has made it clear that women are free to swim topless in municipal pools.
Berlin’s authorities want to make it very clear: Women are free to swim topless in municipal pools. Topless swimming in public pools wasn’t forbidden in the German capital anyway, but a woman recently lodged a complaint alleging discrimination after a pool prevented her from swimming without covering her chest, a restriction that wasn’t applied to the male swimmers. A second woman said she was told to cover up while at an indoor pool in December. Authorities agreed they had been victims of discrimination and said that all visitors to Berlin's pools were now entitled to go topless.
The decision will be welcomed by those here who champion what's known as Freikörperkultur - free body culture. “Free-body culture” promotes harmony with nature, and today some Germans sunbathe nude, strip down to play sports and even hike in the buff.
But this is a country which considers public nudity in some settings to be both appropriate and healthy. Foreign visitors to Germany are often surprised - and sometimes downright disconcerted - by the sight of naked Germans frolicking in its lakes, snoring in its parks, or sweating in its saunas.
