Naturism in Germany

[2]In late 19th century Germany, the idea of removing all clothing in an outdoors environment in order to liberate oneself was revolutionary.

[3] At the same time doctors from the natural healing movement were using heliotherapy, treating diseases such as tuberculosis, rickets, rheumatism and scrofula with exposure to sunlight.

[6][page needed] Its major promoters were Karl Wilhelm Diefenbach, Richard Ungewitter,[7] Heinrich Pudor, Hans Surén [de][8] and Adolf Koch.

[10][page needed] The German naturism movement was careful to de-eroticise the nude body, which was not regarded as sexually provocative in itself.

In March 1933, Prussian Minister of the Interior Hermann Göring passed laws limiting mixed-gender nudism, as a reaction to what he regarded as the increasing immorality of the Weimar state.

In January 1934, Reichmeister for the Interior, Wilhelm Frick passed edicts restricting naturism due to fears that it was a breeding ground for Marxists and homosexuals.

After the war, East Germans were free to practice nudism, chiefly at beaches rather than clubs (private organizations being regarded as potentially subversive by the government).

After German reunification, objections to naturism at the Baltic Sea beaches on the German-Polish border were raised among Poland's predominantly Catholic population.