The new rules ensure “equal rights for all Berlin residents,” said a city anti-discrimination official
Officials in Germany’s capital Berlin have introduced new rules for public swimming pools and bathing facilities, allowing women to use them topless. The measure was introduced after a successful anti-discrimination complaint was hailed as a step towards its creation “equal rights” for all residents of the city by a local anti-discrimination ombudsman.
“Berlin bathing establishments will apply their bathing regulations in a gender-neutral manner.” the city government said in a statement Thursday, adding “topless swimming” should now be possible in the city’s public indoor and outdoor pools “all women or people with breasts that are perceived as feminine.”
A spokeswoman for the city’s bathing association confirmed the policy had been updated, telling RBB radio broadcaster that “Topless swimming is allowed equally for everyone.” However, the new rules do not mean that women in Berlin are required to swim topless, as they can still cover their breasts if they wish.
The policy change was prompted by a successful anti-discrimination complaint filed by a 33-year-old female polar-goer. The woman was asked by the supervisory staff of one of Berlin’s swimming pools to cover her breasts during a visit to the facility in December 2022. After she refused, staff forced her to leave the pool.
The woman then argued that the facility’s rules contained no gender-specific regulations and only required the patrons to wear clothing “ordinary bathing suits.” The rules were subsequently changed following an intervention by the city’s anti-discrimination ombudswoman, Doris Liebscher.
Liebscher herself applauded the changes on Thursday, saying the new rules ensure equal rights for “male, female or non-binary” Berliners and “creating legal certainty” for pool workers. “Now it’s about making sure the ordinance is applied consistently and there are no more evictions [pool] prohibits,” she added.
Berlin is not the first German city to introduce such rules. The city of Siegen in the northwestern state of North Rhine-Westphalia and Goettingen in the neighboring region of Lower Saxony also did so in 2022. The capital of Lower Saxony, Hanover, followed suit at the end of last year.
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