Göttingen will be the first city in Germany to allow visitors to swim naked in a public swimming pool. Women and men are not allowed to wear clothes in the pool during the weekend.
The city council announced on Thursday that the new rules will take effect from May 1, 2022, until the end of August. This step is a way towards gender equality. All genders can use the city’s water recreation facilities naked.
The decision comes after an incident last year when a swimmer, identified as male, was barred from entering one of the city’s pools. Previously he refused to cover his chest.
The city council of Göttingen said the decision to swim naked was only permitted over the weekend. Because on weekdays, the swimming pool is used by school-children.
Germany has a popular nudist movement known as “FKK”, Frei-Koerper-Kultur, or free body culture. Most German saunas are mixed for men and women. Visitors are required to undress for hygiene reasons.
Some locals have events at the pool which are held only during the weekends. A pool boss also told the Tageszeitung newspaper that compromises had to be made to accommodate “customers from other cultures”.
