Authorities in Berlin have announced the commencement of topless swimming almost a year after the Senate Department for Justice and Anti-Discrimination had said all genders will be able to bathe “topless” in swimming pools and open-air pools.

This was after a woman had lodged a discrimination complaint for being expelled from the pool because of her bare breasts. 

According to a statement issued by the city in 2022 following the filing of the discrimination complaint, public pool rules were too ambiguous to forbid topless swimmers of any gender, and they urged Berlin’s bathing establishments to allow gender-equal access to pools instead of changing their internal rules.

Significantly, the new law would provide people the freedom to decide whether or not to cover their top bodies while visiting public pools.

Note that majority of saunas in Germany are mixed-sex as patrons must still undress for hygienic reasons. 

Furthermore, Germany has a well-known nudist movement known as “FKK” — which stands for Freikörperkultur, or free body culture.