Berlin officials have introduced new rules for public swimming pools and bathing facilities, allowing women to use them topless. A local anti-discrimination ombudsperson hailed the measure as a step toward creating “equal rights” for all city residents after a successful anti-discrimination complaint.
“Berlin bathing establishments will apply their bathing regulations in a gender-neutral manner,” the city government said in a statement on Thursday, adding that “topless swimming” in the city’s public indoor and outdoor swimming pools should now be possible for “all females or people with breasts perceived as feminine.”
A spokeswoman for the city’s bathing association confirmed the policy update, telling RBB radio that “topless swimming is equally permitted to everyone.” Women in Berlin are not required to swim topless under the new rules, and they can still cover their breasts if they prefer.
A successful anti-discrimination complaint filed by a 33-year-old female pool-goer prompted the policy change. During a visit to one of Berlin’s pools in December 2022, the woman was asked by supervisory staff to cover her breasts. The staff forced her to leave the pool after she refused.
The woman then claimed that the facility’s rules did not specify gender and only required clients to wear “common bathing suits.” Doris Liebscher, the city’s antidiscrimination ombudswoman, intervened and changed the rules.
On Thursday, Liebscher praised the changes, saying that they ensure equal rights for “male, female, or non-binary” Berlin residents and “create legal certainty” for pool employees. “Now it’s about ensuring that the regulation is consistently applied and that there are no more evictions or [pool] bans,” she added.
Berlin is not the first German city to enact such regulations. In 2022, Siegen, in the northwestern state of North-Rhine Westphalia, and Goettingen, in the neighboring Lower Saxony region, will do the same. By the end of last year, Hannover, the capital of Lower Saxony, had followed suit.
