Women are now allowed to swim topless in Berlin’s public pools, a move that reflects Germany’s long-standing tradition of embracing nudity.

In Berlin, women can now choose to swim topless at the city’s public pools, just like men have been able to do.

This change is seen not only as a step forward for gender equality in Berlin, but also as an expression of Germany’s longstanding ‘Freikoerperkultur,’ or ‘free body culture,’ which dates back to the late 1800s.

The decision came after a woman was stopped from swimming topless at a Berlin pool in December 2022. She filed a complaint with the city’s ombudsman office, prompting a review of the rules.

Authorities determined that the woman had experienced discrimination and announced that, starting this week, all visitors to Berlin’s pools, including women and non-binary individuals, can swim topless if they choose.

This follows a similar incident at a Berlin water park in the summer of 2021, when French tourist Gabrielle Lebreton sought compensation after security guards told her to leave for refusing to cover her breasts.

At the time, Gabrielle was with her five-year-old son. She explained in an interview with German newspaper *Die Zeit* that she felt it was gender discrimination, stating, 'For me — and I teach this to my son — there is no such difference. Both men and women have breasts as secondary sexual characteristics, but men have the freedom to remove their clothes when it’s hot, and women do not.'

The Berlin state government confirmed the decision in a statement released Thursday. 'As a result of a successful discrimination complaint, Berlin’s public pools will now enforce their rules in a gender-neutral way,' the statement said.

Dr. Doris Liebscher, the head of the ombudsman’s office, praised the decision as a major step towards gender equality in Berlin.

'The ombudsman fully supports the decision made by the swimming facilities because it guarantees equal rights for all Berliners—regardless of gender—and ensures legal clarity for the staff working there,' she explained.

Ida, a Berlin resident who preferred to remain anonymous, welcomed the relaxation of the rules but raised doubts about its real impact on gender equality.

'It’s great that a simple complaint helped bring about this 'topless' change in Berlin. But I’m unsure how this truly advances gender equality,' she shared with Dinogo.

'Women who are comfortable with their bodies—and with occasional stares from strangers—won’t mind showing their torsos. It’s fantastic that there are no penalties for accidental nip-slips, making this a wonderful change overall,' she added.

Ida expressed doubts about how many women would actually take advantage of the new rule. 'I once visited a pool in the Pankow district, and given the crowd there, I wouldn’t feel comfortable going topless. Germans are generally quite neutral about such things and wouldn’t mind, but whether this shift catches on remains to be seen,' she said.

This move isn’t the first of its kind in Germany; last summer, Goettingen became the first city in the country to allow women to swim topless in public pools.

The decision came after a controversy over gender identity at a local pool, where a swimmer was asked to cover up. The swimmer, who identified as male, refused and was subsequently banned from the facility, according to a report by Germany’s public broadcaster *Deutsche Welle*.

'Another way of being'

In addition to promoting gender equality, this move reflects Germany’s long-standing affinity for Freikoerperkultur (FKK), or 'free body culture,' which dates back to the German Empire.

Instead of viewing the naked body as sexual, the movement focuses on the health benefits of communal nudity, especially while exercising or connecting with nature.

Keon West, a social psychology professor at Goldsmiths, University of London, has studied attitudes toward nudity across various European countries and beyond.

'Most people recognize that Germans are generally much more at ease with nudity compared to the British or Americans,' he shared with Dinogo.

'The key difference in how Germany views nudity, compared to the UK and the US, is that naked individuals are not segregated from others in Germany,' he added.

'In Germany, nudity is simply seen as another way of being,' he concluded.

He clarified that in Germany, people who are naked in public spaces are not automatically regarded as dangerous or immoral.

'Germans tend to allow people to embrace nudity and are very comfortable with it,' he added.

Germany’s deep-rooted love for nudity dates back to late-19th-century health movements. The country’s first FKK (Freikörperkultur) organization was founded in 1898, and the concept rapidly spread nationwide, according to *Deutsche Welle*.

In 1920, Germany opened its first nude beach on the island of Sylt. Less than a decade later, the Berlin School of Nudism, created to promote mixed-gender outdoor exercise, hosted the first international nudism congress.

Although the Nazis initially banned the nudist movement as part of a moral crackdown, it continued to thrive and gained some support from members of the paramilitary SS.

After World War II, nudism continued to thrive in both East and West Germany, with East Germany in particular embracing it as a form of rebellion against the regimented, uniformed life of the communist regime.

The nudist movement remains strong in contemporary Germany. Today, approximately 600,000 Germans are members of over 300 private nudist or FKK clubs, with an additional 14 affiliated clubs in Austria.