Berlin to let women swim topless at public swimming pools

Men and women will be held to the same rules when it comes to covering up at public pools in Berlin. Photo / 123rf

Women will soon be allowed to swim topless at public swimming pools in Berlin, just like men, according to a government announcement on Thursday.

New bathing rules will allow everyone to swim without covering their torsos.

The decision was prompted by legal action taken by a woman who was kicked out of an open-air pool for sunbathing topless in the Capital according to a statement from the Berlin senate for justice, diversity and anti-discrimination.

The woman, who remains anonymous, took the issue to the senate’s ombudsperson’s office for equal treatment and demanded that women be allowed to swim topless, just like men.

In response to both the complaint and the ombudsman’s involvement, the Berliner Bäderbetriebe (BBB), which operates the city’s public pools, made the decision to clarify its clothing rules.

BBB has not changed its rules, which insist bathing costumes cover genitals, but rather specified this applies to both genders.

“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,” said the head of the ombudsperson’s office, Doris Liebscher.

Previously, women who swam without covering their breasts at Berlin pools were asked to cover themselves up or leave the pool. In some instances, women were permanently banned.

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

The call will be welcome news for those who support Freikörperkultur (free body culture), a German philosophy that views public nudity in certain settings to be healthy and appropriate, much to the surprise of visitors.

Whether municipal swimming pools are such a setting, has been a hotly contested topic.

It is not clear when the clothing approach will come into action.