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Adie Bond's avatar

The bare faced cheek of it ...

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Dave's avatar

Certainly opened my eyes up as a 23 year old living for a couple of years in Germany , quite liberating really , I also think Germans attitudes towards sex was hugely different to ours in the UK , which I found interesting 😁, we were in comparison to the Germans like stuffed shirts 🤭, was it John Lennon that said “ born in Liverpool , grew up in Hamburg, ?? , I like the fact that the FKK still has place in German society, long may these differences continue 👏👏👏👏

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Peter Bone's avatar

I had similar experiences to Dave, above. I lived in Germany for four years in the 1970s and found the general attitude toward nudity much more ‘normal’ than our post-Victorian hang-ups about it. Swimming naked in German lakes and rivers, and sitting naked in mixed saunas with strangers always seemed perfectly sensible.

Attitudes have changed, of course, and we are, most of us, sensitised to the dangers of the ‘male gaze,’ but I always found the contrast, between British and German people, in attitudes towards not wearing clothes in situations where they aren’t required, rather puzzling and a bit sad.

And I hope I’ve not offended anyone by saying this.

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Frauke57's avatar

We were puzzled by the term Textil Strand somewhere on the Baltic coast but assumed that it was to differentiate from FKK

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Laura's avatar

I recall reading something years ago, when I lived in Leipzig, about naked flights to naked vacation resorts, in the GDR. So many practical issues involved in that, I'd imagine!

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James McNeill's avatar

Well Katja I’m a little lost for words. It’s a lifestyle choice that is so alien to the vast majority of Brits. I am the very antithesis of the Freikörperkultur; when it’s warm and sunny I want to pull on my biker leathers, my full face helmet, and my Stormtrooper (that’s Star Wars) boots and zoom off on my Triumph. You’re not doing that au naturel! A further barrier to embracing FKK culture is a ghastly scar across my stomach. I imagine that I am missing the “it’s not about aesthetics” point. More seriously a genuine concern I have is the prurient gaze of men, perhaps specifically unaccompanied single men. Perhaps we should be more comfortable in our own unadorned skin. A startling read with my morning coffee Katja.

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