Freikörperkultur

In many parts of central Europe up until the 18th century, people bathed naked in rivers and lakes, although often separately by sex. Beginning in the late 18th century, public nudity became increasingly taboo. At the same time, Lord Monboddo (1714–1779) practised and preached nude bathing as a revival of Ancient Greek attitudes toward nudity.[2]

In 1898 the first Freikörperkultur club was founded in Essen. In 1900 more and more Swedish baths[lower-alpha 1] arose in rooms in Berlin and on the North and Baltic Seas and a naturist movement began in France.

The FKK movement was based on an attitude towards life where the naked body is not a source of shame. Freikörperkultur does not involve sexuality. Nakedness in the shower or sauna is not Freikörperkultur, since it is practically necessary. Nudity has to have prior group consent, and therefore requires no reserved zones, such as separate beaches or club areas.

With political liberalization, conservative circles challenged the nude baths which had become popular among urban intellectuals, seeing them as a corruption of morality.

Illustration by Heinrich Zille, (1858–1929)

The first nude beach in Germany was established in 1920 on the island of Sylt. In 1933 after the Nazi Party came to power, nudist organizations were banned or integrated into Nazi organizations. The first dissertation about the FKK movement was written in the 1930s. The first naturist Olympic Games took place in Thielle in Switzerland in August 1939.

One of the greatest dangers for German culture and morality is the so-called nudity movement. Greatly as it is to be welcomed in the interest of the public health, that ever wider circles, especially of the metropolitan population, are striving to make the healing power of sun and air and water serviceable to their body, as greatly must the so-called nudity movement be disapproved of as a cultural error. Among women the nudity kills natural modesty; it takes from men their respect for women, and thereby destroys the prerequisite for any genuine culture. It is therefore expected of all police authorities that, in support of the spiritual powers developed through the national movement, they take all police measures to destroy the so-called nude culture. Hermann Göring, 1933 Nazi edict

The 'Kampfring für völkische Freikörperkultur', established in May 1933,[4] was a pro-Nazi völkisch umbrella body for German Freikörperkultur nudist groups, which excluded Jews and most communist nudist groups. Some sources state that Himmler and the SS supported Naturism.[5] In Germany the ban against nude swimming was softened by allowing nude swimming in remote areas in 1942.

In 1942 the first documented nude wedding was celebrated in Elysian Fields, California.

Young East German women at a naturist beach in Rostock, 1988

East German nude beach at the Bay of Wismar, 1984

In 1949, the Deutscher Verband für Freikörperkultur (DFK) (German Association for Free Body Culture) was founded, which today is a member of the German Olympic Sport Federation (DOSB) and the largest member of the International Naturist Federation (INF).

The first naturist holiday resorts were opened around 1950 in France (Centre-Hélio-Marin in Montalivet-les-Bains, Aquitaine, France).

The nude beach in Kampen on the island of Sylt in Germany was particularly popular due to extensive media coverage. FKK resorts in Yugoslavia, France and on the Baltic Seacoast became popular holiday places. Naturist organizations gained many new members in the 1960s.[6]

Social nudism and FKK-inspired naturism was particularly popular in East Germany, possibly because of a more secular cultural development.[7]

In the later decades of the 20th century, naturism became very popular outside Germany. Beach culture was often intermixed – nude and dressed people would swim together and nudity was widely tolerated.

One popular form of Freikörperkultur is Nacktwanderung, literally translated as Naked hike, where a walking group will collectively hike through the open countryside,[8] which is possible in Germany due to the liberal laws on non-sexual public nudity. This attitude does extend to Austria, where FKK culture enjoys a high degree of public acceptance,[9] but not to the German-speaking regions of Switzerland.[8]