Posted by Hans Wurst on March 27, 2006 at 06:53:38:
In Reply to: Re: Bad Homburg/Frankfurt posted by Greta on March 25, 2006 at 15:57:39:
This reply is sort of BS...
While there is some good info here, there is some false. Primarily, topless sunbathing is way down at lakes, parks & Schwimmbads in recent years, primarily thanks to numerous "exposes" on various German television shows about Handi-cams. The sentence saying "a great public pool where most of the girls will be topless in May," is simply baloney. There may be some, but May is still very cool and, as those of us who know Germany can tell you, "most" definately won't be topless, even in hot August (note: I'm talking about the public area of a Schwimmbad, not the private FKK-area of a Saunabad). Also, the generalization stated about the Burgermeister visiting a Schwimmbad during an FKK night is doubtful, to say the least. It could happen, but on a whole that is a fairly rediculous implication about Germans. Most FKK nights consist of older people, with the obligatory swinger couples and always lots of men; there may be a few young couples, but realistically, it's a big sausage fest.
It's unfortunate, but there has been a strong social trend away from FKK in Germany in recent years. 2006 is far different than the "naive years" of the 70's, 80's & early-90's, when you might have witnessed the situations that "Greta" describes. Germany's young women are more self-conscience now. Just recently, another big populist "news story" came out in Germany about the availability of DVD's featuring women in various Saunabads in and around Freiburg. Obviously that's not going to help things...
BTW: I'm not trying to be critical, I'm just trying to paint a realistic picture. There is way too much "fiction" in a lot of the descriptions of German swimmingpools, saunas and FKK areas. A good time can still be had, but it's my experience that weekends at a saunabad in or near a city with a big university (Freiburg is great) is your best hope. However, I think the days for this are even limited, as every new saunabad being built has a dedicated "women only" section now; there are even women-only FKK beaches in Germany now, similar to some places in Italy. The era when one could go down to the local lake and strip off, letting it "all hang out" while in the midst of clothed visitors is over. Too bad...