Sommerszeit=Nacktheit

Summer. Public nudity.

These are two things that belong together in Germany, the home of Freikörperkultur (lit. "free body culture").

For the prudes out there, the foreign types who think that even statues should always be clothed (fig leaf, minimum), there are certain public, outdoor places to avoid.

1. The nudist beach, known as the FKK-Strand or Nacktbadestrand. These areas are usually adjoining one end of the general beach, and while there may be some fencing to protect privacy, there also might not be. So, if you don't want to join the nudists, and you don't want to see them, pay attention to the signposts and head along the beach in the opposite direction. (Note: these beaches are commonly found on lakes, which leads me to my next point.)
2. Parks surrounding lakes. Chances are, if the lake allows swimming, it has a dedicated nude swimming area. It's entirely possible that you will find yourself copping an eyeful of a naked man, backstroking towards you across the lake. This might be a bit of a shock if you're taking a wide-eyed, touristy stroll through a park, on the opposite shore to the swimming beach. Especially if you happen to have your camera (with telephoto lens) out, and you're taking some photos of the pretty German scenery, when suddenly, you catch sight of pink flesh on the water, and can't quite believe your eyes.
3. Other parks. They might not contain much total nudity, but parks such as the Tiergarten in Berlin are full of semi-naked people on warm days. It's not nudism, it's just sunbaking, but for those of us who might expect semi-nakedness, but only on the beach, topless women and barely smuggled budgies can seem a strange backdrop to your picnic on the grass. (Beware: if you decide to sunbake nearly nude in a park, especially if there's water nearby, your vulnerable body is in danger of being randomly attacked by cranky swans.)
4. Children's playgrounds - especially those with water features. Here, the adults keep their clothes on, but many of the children don't.

I feel like a bit of a freak, sometimes, insisting that my own daughter doesn't leave our flat without clothes. After all, on a nice day, the neighbours' children in the next building can be seen, naked, running around in their garden. And the playgrounds are full of sandy, naked kids. So why don't I want her to join in?

There are several reasons why I don't like the idea of my daughter being naked in public. The first is simply because I come from Australia, where people not only swim in bathing suits, but in boardshorts, T-shirts and hats, and I'm well-versed in the dangers of skin cancer. I don't want my daughter getting burnt. The second reason is because I've also been well-versed in the dangers of paedophiles. The third reason is that I don't like the idea of my daughter being photographed naked, even accidentally, just as part of the background, because of the ever-expanding ways in which photos are published and distributed. I prefer that she has some modicum of privacy. (For the same reason, I'm careful to avoid taking photos of her if there are naked children in the background.)

It's a lovely idea, that there's no reason to be afraid, that there's no danger of paedophiles worth worrying about. And it sure beats some of the over-the-top protective measures we've had in Australia, such as banning cameras from many public pools because children might be photographed (by paedophiles) in bathing suits. But are children really safer in Germany than in Australia, or is there a possibility that some parents here are simply too trusting?

As far as sun exposure goes, I can understand why people here aren't so worried about that. Most of the year it feels like there's no sunshine at all. And children, in particular, are almost entirely covered up to keep them warm through the long cold months. It feels good, healthy, necessary even, to get some sunlight on your skin when it finally comes out. We're all desperate for a few warm rays.

For this reason, 2009, with its tiny number of sunny days, has been a good year for prudes, and a bad one for nudes. (The summer of 2008 was a more naked one.)

But, here's a warning for the prudes out there. Even if you avoid all the naked places you can in public, and you don't have saunas or have a shower in the gym, there's still a chance that, like my friend in Berlin, you might look out your kitchen window on a Sunday and see, on the other side of the street, a naked man standing on his windowsill, pressed up against his window, trying to fix something and blissfully carefree about whether or not anyone notices his full-frontal nudity. (And indoors, in front of windows or not, people can go nude all year round.)

My friend noticed, all right, and she (a self-confessed prude) was quite put off her brunch.