Berlin to permit women to swim topless in public pools

Women will soon be granted permission to swim topless in public pools in Berlin in accordance with a ruling of the city's authorities.

The step has been taken after a woman took legal action after being thrown out of an open-air pool because of sunbathing topless.

The complainant, whose identity was not revealed by the authorities, reached the senate’s ombudsperson’s office where she demanded equal treatment and argued that women must be allowed to go topless if they choose to do so.

The authorities accepted that the victims have faced discrimination and said that all visitors to the pools of Berlin are now free to go topless, irrespective of their gender.

As a result of the complaint, the Berliner Baederbetriebe, which has been running the public pools of Berlin, made changes in its clothing rules accordingly.

“The ombudsperson’s office very much welcomes the decision of the Baederbetriebe, because it establishes equal rights for all Berliners, whether male, female or non-binary, and because it also creates legal certainty for the staff at the Baederbetriebe,“ Doris Liebscher, the head of the ombudsperson's office, said

“Now it is important that the regulation is applied consistently and that no more expulsions or house bans are issued,” Liebscher added.

The outcome is likely to be received as a piece of good news by those who follow Germany’s freikörperkultur, or “free body culture”.

In 2022, various cities of the country brought the concept of topless swimming in public pools, including Gottingen in Lower Saxony and Siegen in North Rhine-Westphalia.

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The bathing regulations were also changed in the Lower Saxony state capital of Hanover at the end of 2022, which that stated only “primary sex organs” have to be covered “in the wet area” of municipal baths.

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