City Councillor Friedemann Kalmbach from the FÜR Karlsruhe electoral group speaks out against “topless swimming” in Karlsruhe. The Left Party group in Karlsruhe’s city council demanded that every person, regardless of gender, should be able to make their choice of clothing in the pools without hindrance. This demand has now been approved by the municipal council’s pool committee – despite the concerns of the pool operators and the children’s office regarding the protection of minors.
Councillor Kalmbach also takes a critical view of the decision: “Living yourself to the full means accepting negative consequences for others. Nudity is a difficult issue, especially when it comes to young people. We also live in a multicultural and multi-religious society, where a great deal of permissiveness comes into conflict with our own values. Excessive tolerance with regard to physical freedom of movement is intolerant of other views. The freedom of one should end where the freedom of the other begins.”
FÜR Karlsruhe criticizes the urgency attached to this issue. The option of “topless bathing” is already available in quieter outdoor areas and for textile-free bathing in the Vierordtbad. There can therefore be no talk of discrimination or intolerance due to the range of services already available in Karlsruhe.
The electoral group FÜR Karlsruhe also does not see a majority consensus in society for this decision: In Freudenstadt, “topless bathing” for women was stopped by the local council: there was too much criticism from guests and on social networks. It was feared “that women bathing half-naked could be gawped at and harassed by other visitors.” A nationwide survey showed that 55 percent of the women questioned were against a “topless rule” – 56 percent of the men questioned were in favor of such a rule.
Sources:
Spiegel (2023): A-7272a635-c9fb-471f-8cba-1a74e3945f84, in: DER SPIEGEL, Hamburg, Germany, 25.03.2023, [online] https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/gesellschaft/umfrage-knappe-mehrheit-der-frauen-gegen-moeglichkeit-zum-schwimmen-oben-ohne-a-7272a635-c9fb-471f-8cba-1a74e3945f84.
Notararigo, Jeremy Gob Lars (2023): Karlsruhe allows topless swimming for women: But only in outdoor pools | ka-news, ka-news.de, [online] https://www.ka-news.de/region/karlsruhe/oben-ohne-schwimmen-in-karlsruhe-antrag-angenommen-oberkoerper-frei-in-manchen-baedern-gestattet-art-2954955.
Current, Swr (2023a): No “topless” in swimming pools in Freudenstadt, swr.online, [online] https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/baden-wuerttemberg/tuebingen/oben-ohne-im-panoramabad-freudenstadt-100.html.
