Public nudity in Germany.

Okay so as per the title suggests, there’s something you’re going to have to mentally prepare yourself for when you visit Deutschland….

Germany has something called Freikörperkultur (FKK), meaning a free body culture which is particularly noticeable in the summer time!

accessed from
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/9bkjnd/naked-people-park-berlin-876

It is totally normal to go naked at pools, lakes and saunas in Germany, in fact Saunas often have strict no-clothing policies!

This concept can be understood by considering the history of nudity in Germany, as the first official FKK club was founded in Essen in 1898.

Nazis put a stop to nudist practices but eventually began to relax nudity bans, first in rural areas.

After the war, the German Association for Free Body Culture (DFK) was established, and the acceptance of nudity was at an all time high. Nudity was rapidly becoming a social norm, as well as a prominent aspect of German culture.

Clearly, nudity at this level is far less accepted as a social or cultural norm in a country like Australia, and at first may take some getting used to.

The attitude Germans have to nudity is wonderful, and has helped form the culture of body positivity so prominent in Germany.

Societal pressures about body standards and beauty ideals don’t seem to impact Germans so much, whom appreciate bodies of all shapes and sizes, and don’t criticise bodies that don’t conform to societal standards.

I personally believe that the free body culture is a wonderful thing that encourages self-love and an appreciation for a diversity of bodies!

How has Germany been essentialised?

So what do we think about when we think Germany? Who is deciding this is a place they want to travel to, and why? These are important questions we must ask ourselves to begin to understand how place’s are essentialised.

accessed from:
http://kidspressmagazine.com/plans/all 7 April 2019

Take the image above. All of the imagery are strongly associated with Germany as a whole.

Perhaps the strongest imagery associated with Germany is the Lederhosen and Dirndl, or even the pretzels. These symbols, as well as at least half of the imagery above are realistically only true of the south of Germany- in the region of Bavaria. Don’t go to Berlin or Hamburg and expect to see people going to events or weddings in what one might have thought to be the ‘traditional German dress‘.

Check out my blog from the other week where I talk about German beer culture, I’ll link it here: https://wordpress.com/block-editor/post/jessabroad.home.blog/22. I touch on the Oktoberfest celebration as a tourist attraction, and remind that knowledge and respect of the historical and cultural significance of such an event is important to be a good traveller.

It is so important to dive into a country without expectations, and without taking these symbols at face value. One mustn’t enter a place with an essentialist and internalist view of the place and its character.

Escape this problematic view of place by adopting a PROGRESSIVE sense of place. Remind yourself of the place as a process- a place with multiple different identities and ongoing histories. Respect what makes the place unique, and always remember to explore with an open mind.

German Street Art- “The Kiss”, East Side Gallery, Berlin.

East Side Gallery, Berlin, Germany. Accessed from: https://backpackingman.com/berlin-wall-east-side-gallery-street-art/

“The Kiss” is a famous painting on Berlin East Side Gallery. The East Side Gallery is an open-air art gallery on the longest remaining stretch of the Berlin Wall– a concrete barrier installed by the German Democratic Republic of East Germany that divided East and West Berlin from 1961 to 1989. The wall stole the freedom of Berliners and prohibited them from crossing. At least 171 people who attempted to cross over were killed.

Depicted in the painting is Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and the East Germany President Erich Honecker kissing- seemingly quite passionately. The image is based on a real photograph taken in 1979 at an event honouring of the 30th anniversary of the German Democratic Republic of East Germany.

‘The Socialist Fraternal Kiss’, 1979. Accessed from: https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/socialist-fraternal-kiss-leonid-brezhnev-erich-honecker-1979/

The type of kiss is known as a ‘socialist fraternal kiss’ and is a recognised form of greeting among statesmen of Communist countries; an act that expresses the special connection that exists between Socialist states.

Artist Dmitri Vrubel painted the iconic work when the Berlin Wall came down in 1989. In 1990, when erosion required the wall to be renovated, Vrubel was required to redo the painting.

The historical significance of the works’ imagery, as well as the significance of painting on the Berlin Wall itself means the piece is of great cultural significance to Berliner’s.

The piece is perhaps the most famous work featured at the East Side Gallery, with people coming from all over to snap a photo posing (or kissing someone!) in front of it.

Ein Bier bitte!

“Ein Bier Bitte!” (One beer please!) is a phrase you will need to memorise when you come to Germany.

There’s no denying that one of the first symbols to come to mind when we think of Germany is the German beer. Type ‘Germany’ into google images and there’s no doubt a few steins of beer will pop up!

So WHY is Germany so famous for its beer? Let me tell you about the extensive historical and cultural significance of beer in Germany.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is shutterstock_954547302-580x386.jpg — *German Beer, accessed from: https://militaryingermany.com/germany-beer-country*

First of all, Germany has purity laws to ensure the quality of their beer. The history of German beer dates back to 1516 when Duke Wilhem IV of Bavaria ordered the “Purity Law” or “Reinheitsgebot”, stating beer should only contain the purest ingredients: barley, hops and water.

Today the law is still used to regulate the production of German beer, however an additional ingredient- yeast, is also permitted.

Germany has the more breweries than anywhere else in the world. There are more than 1,000 breweries in Germany producing over 4,000 different kinds of beer!

Speaking of breweries, Germany is home to the oldest still-functioning brewery in the whole world! Located in Bavaria, the Weihenstephan monastery started making beer in the eighth century A.D! Now the Bavarian State Brewery Weihenstephan (since 1921), the brewery continues to brew award-winning beer.

Oktoberfest originated from the celebration of the marriage between King Ludwig I and Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen on the 12th of October 1810. A festive celebration marked the close of the royal event, which was celebrated again in subsequent years- marking the beginning of the Oktoberfest tradition.

Oktoberfest celebrations, accessed from: https://www.mrbeeryssrq.com/product/oktoberfest/

German beer is undoubtedly reproduced in many forms, such as today’s version of Oktoberfest, for tourism. It is important for us to respect the history and cultural dimensions that make German beer the national symbol that it is!