The naked truth about Germany: Clothing is optional

BERLIN — The middle-aged German was enjoying cooling down in the waters of a rural lake when he was approached by a woman who had a request: Would he please put on a bathing suit?

"There are children around, after all," she said.

"Including my son, who's also without a suit," he replied. She splashed off, angry at the impasse, as another woman approached, nodded at the woman who was leaving, and noted, simply and using the slang term for West Germans: "Wessies. Prudes."

It's summer in Germany, which means nakedness abounds. In the cities, in the countryside, at lakes and beaches, in city parks, even sometimes in restaurants and certainly in yards where yard work needs doing, Germans who've shed their clothes are visible to all. Indoor public pools have "naked days." There are naked mountain hiking trails. In the winter, some places offer naked sledding.

Yet while the German newspaper Die Welt once famously observed "Only naked are all Germans equal," the reality is that 25 years after East and West Germany became a single Germany, one great divide remains: Those who spend their days naked, and those who don't.

The divide goes to the very top. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who grew up in the East, reportedly prefers nude bathing, though she hasn't since becoming the world's most powerful woman (those who have seen her swimming recently note that she appears almost embarrassed at wearing a suit, but the prospect of having nude photos appear on the front page of newspapers worldwide is a clear deterrent).

A 2014 Expedia.com survey of 11,000 people from 24 countries found nude bathing was most popular among Germans. The poll found that 28 percent of Germans said they had sunbathed naked on a beach. The numbers were similar in the very similar Austria, then dropped significantly to Norway and Spain (both 17 percent). Japan had the lowest numbers of nude bathers, 2 percent. A summary of the poll by the travel website didn't discuss nude bathing in the United States.

Old polls from East Germany noted 80 percent of East Germans bathed nude.

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