Munich goes topless as temperatures soar across Germany

Germans have been flocking to lakes and pools to cool off as the country experiences a heatwave. A group of women sunbathing on the banks of Munich’s Isar River over the weekend were ordered to cover up by security guards.

Topless female sunbathers were told to cover up their breasts in Munich, angering other women who then whipped off their bikini tops in solidarity. The issue is now being debated by political parties in the city council.

However, other sunbathers were outraged at the clampdown and took their own bikini tops off in solidarity, Süddeutsche Zeitung reports. The security guards then called the police, who told the women they had to cover up.

The Green Party has taken the issue to Munich’s city council to be debated. “It’s incomprehensible if men can lie in the sun topless but not women,” said the Greens’ Dominik Krause.

The Christian Social Union (CSU) has gone in the other direction and introduced an urgent motion Wednesday calling for the bathing costume statutes of Munich to be amended “to the effect that bathing costumes must completely cover” the breasts and genitals.

Germany allows nudity but only in designated areas, of which there are six in Munich. An ordinance on naked swimming applies to the rest of the city and says people must wear swimwear.

Locals complained on Twitter that they thought Munich “stood for tolerance” and are appalled at women being told to cover up, with some suggesting Germany has become too ‘prudish’ in recent years for topless sunbathing to be considered acceptable.