German naturists seek nude deal

Germans are becoming so happy to take off their clothes - anytime, anywhere - that the nation's much-loved naturist clubs are losing out. People now see little point in joining a club when stripping off is accepted almost everywhere from city parks to swimming pools.

Enjoying the sun 'without textiles' is a proud German tradition stretching back to the nineteenth century. But a new liberalism is leading to a decline in such organisations as the Free Body Culture (FKK). There are now only 50,000 FKK members in Germany, half the number of the movement's 1930s heyday - and most are pretty wrinkly.

Gerhard Ehrentreich, of the Augsburg Sport Club Helios, said: 'Three-quarters of our FKK members are over 60. I'm not very optimistic.'

The FKK combined Germans' willingness to discard their clothes with an enjoyment of the outdoors and the fun of working in a team to set up club houses and campsites. The clubs are family-oriented, a far cry from the British embarrassment at nudity.

Talking to The Observer from his holiday in Austria - naked, of course - Walter Nussbaumer of the Bavarian Naturist Association said: 'The connection with sex and smut is often made. Eroticism practically rules itself out when you see 200 naked people running around.'

The naturists want to segregate themselves from the simply naked. Nussbaumer said: 'These wild, disorganised nudists are going naked on beaches which are not FKK. They want to show their bodies but do not want the responsibility of being in a club.'