It will be the most German of combinations: nudity and beach towels. After decades of sunbathing and camping in the buff, the legions of Teutonic naturists are about to get their very own holiday heaven — a completely clothing-free hotel.

The Hotel Rosengarten, in the aptly named Black Forest town of Freudenstadt (“Town of Joys”), will mark a new frontier for the homeland of Freikörperkultur (FKK), meaning “free body culture”. A handful of German hotels have accommodated naturists up to now, but the management at Rosengarten plan to take a hardline anti-apparel stance.

That is where the beach towels come in. Even before the hotel opens strict house rules have been published, among them the stipulations that all guests must be naked at all times, and all must put towels on chairs and loungers before using them. Lest anyone get the wrong idea, it is also made clear that there is to be strictly no sexual harassment of fellow guests and no smutty behaviour in communal areas. Those who disobey will have to put on the ultimate badge of nudist dishonour — clothing — and leave.

Frieder Haferkorn, the naturist behind the plan, said: “We hope that all kinds of people will come to the hotel, including families, and we are building a playground in the hotel grounds.

“The town is surrounded by a beautiful national park and there are lots of opportunities for hiking and skiing.” Guests will be permitted to wear clothes while undertaking such activities, although perhaps many will not want to. Ever since Heinrich Pudor, a German sociologist and the Father of Nudism wrote a treatise entitled The Cult of the Nude in the 1890s, his countrymen and women have been gleefully stripping off outdoors.

The German FKK association (DFK), which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, has about 160 affiliated clubs with 45,000 members as well as a youth section. In contrast to neighbouring Switzerland, where the authorities have announced plans to fine the “objectionable behaviour” of nude hikers, two villages in the central German Harz mountain range are planning special walking routes for nude ramblers.

The grounds of the Hotel Rosengarten will soon be another small oasis of nakedness if things go according to Mr Haferkorn’s plan. The 57-year-old hopes to complete the purchase of a 31-room hotel soon, and will welcome guests in all seasons.

Baring all during a German winter may sound like a recipe for painful frostbite, but Mr Haferkorn offers assurances that the hotel will be heated to a balmy 26C (79F) all year.

Grin and bare it

— About 40,000 Germans take holidays every year on nudist beaches in their own country and in nearby Croatia

— The German FKK (free body culture) movement was founded in the 1920s. It was banned by the Nazis who equated nudism with immorality

— In East Germany in the 1950s the communists tried to ban the nudists, who organised “Cameroon festivals” to circumvent the laws, claiming that they were a declaration of solidarity with Africa. They were really an excuse for hundreds to dance around naked

— Last year a German travel agency set up a nudist plane trip from eastern Germany to Usedom, a Baltic resort. Passengers had to dress before leaving the jet

Source: Times Archive

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