Traditional Nudist Clubs In Germany Are In Decline

[matcom]

:cry:

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BERLIN -- Wearing nothing but goose bumps, Georg Engelbrecht walked across the lawn to take a dip in a chilly lake near Berlin one recent summer day.

Deck chairs and ping-pong tables sat unused. Leaves gathered on the volleyball court. Only a few pensioners, an unemployed dentist and a handful of children populated this nudist club, where Mr. Engelbrecht, 99 years old, has spent his free time for decades.

"We are a dying species," said the rosy-skinned former chemical engineer.


About 2,000 Berliners once frequented this community. On a guard tower, members kept watch against unwanted stares. Now membership has dwindled to 850, and there are hardly any Peeping Toms to chase away. Germany is so awash in nakedness -- from magazine covers and television shows to sunbathers baring it all in public parks -- that the country's traditional nudist clubs are in decline, even as nudism seems to be picking up in the U.S.

Germany is the homeland of the nudist movement. In the late 19th century, youngsters from teeming cities formed back-to-nature clubs. Called Freikoerperkultur, or "Free Body Culture," nudism soon grew into a mass movement. Briefly outlawed by the Nazis, nudism kept a faithful following. In Communist East Germany, it was a cherished and tolerated expression of freedom.

Today, Germany's nudist organizations are losing members, and the people still in the game are a wrinkled bunch. Just 50,000 Germans now belong to nudist clubs, less than half the number of the early 1970s, and most are over the age of 50. In the U.S., nudism is said to be growing. The American Association for Nude Recreation, which says it has 50,000 members, says it got a boost in the 1990s, when the Internet helped nudists find others sharing their pastime. Now, too, there are clothing-optional resorts and cruises. With new features like spas and broadband connections, most of today's nudist clubs are a far cry from the rustic nudist colonies of the past.

"For many people, it's less about membership than about a weekend away," says Erich Schuttauf, the association's president.

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