‘We feel good with no clothes’: Naturism, an old German tradition, wins new fans

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Naturism was on the wane for decades in Germany but is now winning over younger generations. © France 24 screengrab

In Germany, naturism or nudism is called “FKK” or “Free Body Culture”. Invented in the 1920s as an escape from social constraints, the tradition was on the decline for most of the past three decades, but at one Berlin association, membership has been growing by 10 percent each year since 2020. Devotees there celebrate the human body in all its varieties amid a social media era crammed with unrealistic ideals of beauty.