The nudist beach war

A conflict has broken out on the Baltic island of Usedom between German nudists, adherents of the "Freikörperkultur" or free body culture, and Polish holidaymakers. The weekly newspaper Die Zeit reports from the front line in the "nude beach war". "The birthday suit is older than the swimsuit industry, and beach ordinances are younger than the nudist tradition. What people forget today is that Goethe bathed naked, Bismarck bathed naked, and the royal spa-doctor Richard Kind from Swinemünde on Usedom warned in 1828 against bathing in swimsuits, because they neutralise the beneficial effect of the pounding of the waves. ... The bathing war is as old as bathing itself. It is an irony of history that Swinemünde of all places should fall prey to prudish mores. You will never see a topless woman on the beach at Świnoujście, but you will see masses of people in various states of undress. ... Soon Poles will be warned in Polish of naked Germans, while the Germans will be warned in German of prudish Poles. The finishing touches are being put on the signs."

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