City to ban people from wearing clothing on nudist beaches

The new ruling follows complaints from people who felt ‘harassed’ in nudist areas

Nudism has long been an accepted part of German culture (Philipp Deus)

Clothed visitors to beaches in the German city of Rostock could face bans from nudist beaches.

The third largest city on the German Baltic coast is home to 15km of white sand beach, which is divided into clothing optional, mixed and clothed sections.

The new ruling follows local authorities who have “received numerous complaints from people who felt harassed in the naturist (or nudist) areas,” Rostock Tourism’s Moritz Naumann told The Independent.

By defining these areas as exclusively for textile-free sunbathing and swimming, the beach warden now has the ability to issue bans in case of conflict, he said.

Mr Naumann said that the ban is only to be used in “case of conflict”.

He added: “It should be noted that not every situation where someone wears clothes in this area directly leads to a conflict. The main focus is to protect those who genuinely feel disturbed.”

Offensive comments, staring or the taking of photographs or video are all broadly regarded as inappropriate etiquette in nudist spaces.

Mr Naumann added that Rostock city authorities have observed that “the number of people practicing it today is decreasing.

“Therefore, we have reduced the number of naturist beaches from 37 to 27 blocks with the new regulation.”

He added: “It is important to us that every guest at our beach feels comfortable, especially in sensitive areas, and we hope that the new regulation will meet the needs of our visitors.

“Naturism has a long tradition in Rostock and is appreciated by many locals as well as guests.”

While nudism, known as “Freikörperkultur” (FKK) or “free body culture,” has traditionally been popular throughout Germany, enthusiasm for the practice appears to have fallen out of style with younger generations.

In addition to beaches, the movement – which dates back to the 19th-century – has seen nudism extended to parks and even hiking trails across the country.

In June 2024, the German Association for Free Body Culture (DFK) – an umbrella organisation for several naturist interest groups – told its members that anniversary celebrations would be cancelled due to a lack of interest.

Group membership has fallen from 65,000 people 25 years ago to fewer than 34,000 in 2024.

In 2023, city officials in Berlin ruled that all swimmers would be permitted to swim topless following an equality row.

The ruling came after a woman took legal action in response to being ejected from an open-air pool in the German capital for sunbathing topless.

As a consequence of the complaint, the Berliner Bäderbetriebe, which runs the city's public pools, changed its clothing rules accordingly, saying that the ruling established “equal rights for all Berliners, whether male, female or non-binary”.

The Independent has contacted Rostock Tourism for comment.