Exhibition title at the Stuttgart History Museum: "Nudity as Obligation"
The House of History in Stuttgart is currently hosting a unique exhibition titled "Free Swimming – Together?!," which has garnered significant attention due to its nudist museum visits. This is not the first time such an event has taken place, as similar offers have been successful in cities like Paris, Marseille, Brussels, and Hannover.
The exhibition, which runs until September 14, features over 200 objects and photos, and explores themes such as different attitudes, moral views, physicality, tolerance, skinny-dipping, and FKK (Free Body Culture). The museum collaborated with the association Get Naked Germany, aiming to promote a desexualized understanding of nudity and normalize it in public life.
Joachim Rüeck, spokesperson for the House of History Baden-Württemberg, confirmed that entry to the exhibition requires visitors to be nude, except for shoes. He also mentioned that all tickets for the nude sessions, including a fully booked tour on August 30 and a similarly sold-out word art action two weeks later, have sold out quickly, demonstrating strong curiosity and engagement with the concept.
The exhibition focuses on the history of public swimming and changing social attitudes about nudity, including exclusionary practices at swimming pools historically experienced by certain social groups. It also aims to view simple nudity as nothing special and not intuitively link it to sexual acts in society.
Get Naked Germany promotes the idea that nudity is the natural state of humans. The association co-organized the unusual museum visit, hoping to normalize nudity in public life and challenge societal norms.
The success of the nudist museum visits in Stuttgart reflects Germany’s broader cultural legacy of Freikörperkultur (FKK)—the free body culture movement—which views nudity in a non-sexualized way and remains influential in certain contexts.
Previously, the Stuttgarter Nachrichten and the Stuttgarter Zeitung reported on the exhibition, highlighting its unusual yet intriguing nature. The fully clothed sessions remain less popular than the nude ones, indicating that visitors are more intrigued by the novelty and experience of visiting a museum naked than by the exhibition’s subject matter.
For those interested in attending the exhibition, it's recommended to book tickets early, as they are selling out rapidly. On the evenings of the naked visits to the exhibition, there will be no program. Visitors are invited to explore the exhibition at their leisure, bringing a towel to sit on.
[1] Stuttgarter Nachrichten article [2] Stuttgarter Zeitung article [3] House of History Baden-Württemberg press release
- Despite the ongoing nudist museum visits at the House of History in Stuttgart generating curiosity about its 'FKK (Free Body Culture)' exhibition, articles in the 'Stuttgarter Nachrichten' and 'Stuttgarter Zeitung' reveal that visitors are more drawn to the novelty and experience of a nude visit than the exhibition's theme itself.
- To delve deeper into the German cultural influence on 'fashion-and-beauty' and 'lifestyle,' one can explore the unique entwinement of nudity with public life, as portrayed in the home-and-garden décor showcases and fashion-forward trends being promoted by the association 'Get Naked Germany.'
