Politician calls for revival of Germany’s ‘naturist culture’

A GERMAN politician has said “the time is right” for a revival of nudist culture across Germany, blaming the West’s “slightly pornographic look” for its decline.

“In the East, men were accustomed to nudity,” Gregor Gysi, of the Left Party, said. “There’s nothing special about it. But if you never see it, it’s more unusual, and you get big eyes”.

The 69-year-old held a (fully clothed) election campaign event from a popular nudist beach in Berlin this week.

“We need more naturist offers again,” he told Bild magazine, which accompanied him to the Müggelsee beach resort, where he sunbathed and spoke with local nudists. “The time is right to extend naturism now,” he said.

Public nudism is not uncommon in Germany, a country with nude sports clubs and beach areas, as well as many mixed gender “textile free” saunas. However, the German nudist movement, known as “free body culture” may be in decline. Mr Gysi spoke in this month’s Playboy magazine, saying Western men, with their “slightly pornographic look” are to blame.

Mr Gysi maintains he no longer practices public nudity personally: “If at all, being nude will only take place at home,” he told Bild.

At the start of this year’s summer outdoor swimming season, the nudist bathing area at Wannsee, in Berlin, was reduced by 70 metres, according to Berlin daily newspaper B.Z.

Wolfgang Hempel, 77, from Tempelhof, told the paper: “A wet swimsuit is not good. And now you have to lie close together – one towel next to the other.”

Gunther Fassbender, 76, and Andrea Feddern, 53, told Bild: “Nudism cannot die! Naturism is a culture, a feeling of life and must be preserved.”