Hundreds cycle naked through Berlin in a first for Germany
The World Naked Bike Ride has reached German cities before, but organizers say Sunday’s demonstration was the first in a major city allowed to proceed fully nude
Around 500 people rode naked or partially clothed through Berlin on Sunday in a World Naked Bike Ride that organizers say was the first in a major German city permitted to proceed with complete nudity. Berlin police put participation at around 500 people.
World Naked Bike Rides have been attempted or organized in Germany before. But authorities have historically drawn a line at the “naked” part, either prohibiting proposed demonstrations or requiring participants to cover their genitals.
On Sunday, August 9, Berlin police allowed participants to cycle completely nude through the capital as part of a registered political demonstration. A police spokesperson told rbb ahead of the event that the ride could take place despite visible nudity in busy public spaces because Germany has broad protections for public assembly and the demonstration fell under freedom of assembly.
Ralf Sprenger, one of the organizers of WNBR Berlin, told Planet Nude that no World Naked Bike Ride in Germany had been permitted to proceed with full nudity for more than 15 years. He described Sunday’s event as the first fully nude WNBR in a major German city.
The ride began at Mauerpark and covered about 33 kilometers through Berlin, passing through the government district and following portions of the Berlin Wall Trail. Participants were free to ride completely nude, partially clothed or dressed.
The Berlin organizers built the demonstration around tolerance and self-acceptance, connection with nature and environmental protection, inclusion and diversity, and the promotion of naturism as cultural heritage. They also pointed to declining membership in German naturist clubs and organizations as a reason to bring naturism into public view.
That focus was deliberate. Sprenger said authorities have typically viewed proposed World Naked Bike Rides as cycling demonstrations in which nudity serves primarily as a symbol of cyclists’ vulnerability in traffic. Under that interpretation, authorities could argue that the same message could be communicated in a bikini or bathing suit.
“We changed the focus,” Sprenger told Planet Nude. The Berlin demonstration centered naturism itself, he said, making nudity necessary to communicate its values.
The organizers considered that principle non-negotiable. Sprenger said they would have canceled the ride if complete nudity had not been permitted. He made a similar argument in an interview with rbb before the ride, saying previous efforts had focused primarily on cycling and used nudity to represent vulnerability. “With us, everything revolves around the motives of naturism,” he said.
A long road to a naked ride
Germany has one of the world’s best-known traditions of organized social nudity. Freikörperkultur, or FKK, developed into an organized cultural movement more than a century ago and remains visible at beaches, parks, clubs and recreational facilities across the country.
That history has not translated into an unrestricted legal right to public nudity.
In 2005, authorities in Rastatt prohibited a proposed naked cycling demonstration along the Rhine. The Karlsruhe Administrative Court upheld the prohibition, finding that the planned public nudity could constitute an offense under Germany’s law against causing a public nuisance. The organizers had explicitly argued that the demonstration was protected by freedom of expression and assembly.
Another attempt in Leipzig in 2014 met a similar fate. The city prohibited a planned World Naked Bike Ride as well as replacement demonstrations involving naked participants. The Leipzig Administrative Court declined to overturn the prohibition.
Cologne found a compromise when it held its first Naked Bike Ride in 2019. Cyclists could strip down, but not completely. Participants were required to keep their genitals covered, and the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger reported that riders would take to the streets in underwear and bathing suits.
Naked cycling itself is not new to Germany. Sprenger founded the Taunus Nackt-Mountainbike-Gruppe, whose members regularly cycle nude outside the urban setting. Some members have also traveled to established World Naked Bike Rides in cities including Brussels and Amsterdam.
What changed in Berlin was the ability to bring complete nudity into a large public demonstration through the center of a major German city. The organizers also worked to make clear what kind of nudity they were defending. The WNBR Berlin website states that the nudity is not inherently sexual and asks participants to behave according to naturist principles. Organizers discouraged fetish accessories and visibly displayed intimate jewelry, saying they wanted the ride to be understood as a respectful, family-friendly political demonstration.
Sprenger said the response on Sunday was positive. “It was a pleasure to ride naked through Berlin,” he told Planet Nude. He said people along the route were friendly and open-minded, with many applauding and waving as the cyclists passed. He also praised Berlin police for being supportive throughout the event.
Before the ride, Sprenger had suggested it could become a “door-opener” for similar events elsewhere in Germany. Afterward, his ambitions remained the same. “I hope this will be a door-opener for further events,” he told Planet Nude, while cautioning that future demonstrations should remain focused on naturist values.
World Naked Bike Rides often use nudity to draw attention to cyclist vulnerability, oil dependence and environmental issues. In Berlin, getting naked was also part of what the riders were demonstrating for. 🪐