Île du Levant: Wiege der französischen Freikörperkultur [FKK] | Stadt, Land, Kunst | ARTE | Reupload

Feb 21, 2022 • Die Île du Levant ist die wohl am wenigsten bekannte der Hyerischen Inseln. Mit ihren weißen Sandstränden und steilen Klippen, die mit dem tiefblauen Wasser des Mittelmeers kontrastieren, wurde sie in den 1930er Jahren zum Ausgangspunkt einer Lebensutopie, die die Rückkehr zur Natur proklamierte: die Freikörperkultur. Was schon im 18. Jahrhundert als medizinische Anwendung begann, fand schnell Anhänger in ganz Europa.

Die Brüder Durville brachten die Freikörperkultur auf die Insel, wo sie bis heute begeistert gepflegt wird.

Verfügbar bis zum 01/02/2024


Many years ago, I flew down to the South of France, to a language school in Hyères to improve my French. I spent several weeks there on two separate occasions. Each time, I stayed with a delightful French married couple.

One day, my host’s wife was thinking of where I should do some sightseeing. She recommended I take a boat trip over to this island for the day. Being more than a little shy at that time, I was reluctant to go there, especially being alone; however, I plucked the courage and went.

The weather was glorious and very hot; the island was magnificent. I shan’t go into detail, but I spent one of the finest days of my life there. It was an extremely liberating experience. In fact, the following year, I went down to the same school and to the same family to continue my studies; naturally, I went over to the island again. That day, too, was equally sublime.

The French really know how to live life to the fullest. Little wonder we get such marvelous expressions as joie de vivre and savoir vivre from the French. People in the Anglosphere are so puritanical and boring by comparison with the fun-loving French.

Vive les français !
Vive la belle France !

© Mark Alexander

Deutsche Version:

Vor vielen Jahren flog ich nach Südfrankreich, um in einer Sprachschule in Hyères mein Französisch zu verbessern. Ich habe dort bei zwei verschiedenen Gelegenheiten mehrere Wochen verbracht. Jedes Mal wohnte ich bei einem entzückenden französischen Ehepaar.

Eines Tages, als die Frau des Hauses überlegte, was ich in der Gegend besichtigen sollte, empfahl mir die Dame für den nächsten Tag eine Bootsfahrt zu dieser Insel zu nehmen. Da ich damals eher schüchtern war, wollte ich nur ungern dorthin gehen, besonders weil ich alleine war. Ich faßte jedoch den Mut dazu und ging.

Das Wetter war herrlich und sehr heiß. Die Insel war großartig und schön. Ich werde nicht ins Detail gehen, aber ich habe dort einen der schönsten Tage meines Lebens verbracht. Es war auch eine extrem befreiende Erfahrung. Tatsächlich ging ich im folgenden Jahr zur dieselben Schule und zur derselben Familie. Natürlich ging ich noch einmal auf die Insel. Auch dieser Tag war ebenso erhaben.

Die Franzosen wissen wirklich, wie man das Leben in vollen Zügen genießt. Kein Wunder, dass wir aus dem Französischen so wunderbare Ausdrücke wie joie de vivre und savoir vivre bekommen haben. Die Menschen in der Anglosphäre sind im Vergleich zu den lebenslustigen Franzosen so puritanisch und langweilig.

Es lebe die Franzosen!
Vive la belle France!

© Mark Alexander

Île du Levant: Wiege der französischen Freikörperkultur | Stadt, Land, Kunst | ARTE | Reupload

Feb 21, 2022 • Die Île du Levant ist die wohl am wenigsten bekannte der Hyerischen Inseln. Mit ihren weißen Sandstränden und steilen Klippen, die mit dem tiefblauen Wasser des Mittelmeers kontrastieren, wurde sie in den 1930er Jahren zum Ausgangspunkt einer Lebensutopie, die die Rückkehr zur Natur proklamierte: die Freikörperkultur. Was schon im 18. Jahrhundert als medizinische Anwendung begann, fand schnell Anhänger in ganz Europa.

Die Brüder Durville brachten die Freikörperkultur auf die Insel, wo sie bis heute begeistert gepflegt wird.

Verfügbar bis zum 01/02/2024


Many years ago, I flew down to the South of France, to a language school in Hyères to improve my French. I spent several weeks there on two separate occasions. IEach time, stayed with a delightful French married couple.

One day, my host’s wife was thinking of where I should do some sightseeing. She recommended I take a boat trip over to this island for the day. Being more than a little shy at that time, I was reluctant to go there, especially being alone. However, I plucked the courage and went.

The weather was glorious and very hot. The island was magnificent. I shan’t go into detail, but I spent one of the finest days of my life there. It was an extremely liberating experience. In fact, the following year, I went down to the same school and to the same family. Naturally, I went over to the island again. That day, too, was equally sublime.

The French really know how to live life to the fullest. Little wonder we get such marvelous expressions as joie de vivre and savoir vivre from the French. People iin the Anglosphere are so puritanical and boring by comparison with the fun-loving French.

Vive les français !
Vive la belle France !

© Mark Alexander

Deutsche Version:

Vor vielen Jahren flog ich nach Südfrankreich, um in einer Sprachschule in Hyères mein Französisch zu verbessern. Ich habe dort bei zwei verschiedenen Gelegenheiten mehrere Wochen verbracht. Jedes Mal wohnte ich bei einem entzückenden französischen Ehepaar.

Eines Tages, als sie überlegte, was ich besichtigen sollte, empfahl mir die Dame für den nächsten Tag eine Bootsfahrt zu dieser Insel zu nehmen. Da ich damals eher schüchtern war, wollte ich nur ungern dorthin gehen, besonders weil ich alleine war. Ich faßte jedoch den Mut dazu und ging.

Das Wetter war herrlich und sehr heiß. Die Insel war großartig. Ich werde nicht ins Detail gehen, aber ich habe dort einen der schönsten Tage meines Lebens verbracht. Es war auch eine extrem befreiende Erfahrung. Tatsächlich ging ich im folgenden Jahr zur dieselben Schule und zur derselben Familie. Natürlich ging ich noch einmal auf die Insel. Auch dieser Tag war ebenso erhaben.

Die Franzosen wissen wirklich, wie man das Leben in vollen Zügen genießt. Kein Wunder, dass wir aus dem Französischen so wunderbare Ausdrücke wie joie de vivre und savoir vivre bekommen haben. Die Menschen in der Anglosphäre sind im Vergleich zu den lebenslustigen Franzosen so puritanisch und langweilig.

Es lebe die Franzosen!
Vive la belle France!

© Mark Alexander

Île du Levant: Wiege der französischen Freikörperkultur | Stadt, Land, Kunst | ARTE

Feb 21, 2022 • Die Île du Levant ist die wohl am wenigsten bekannte der Hyerischen Inseln. Mit ihren weißen Sandstränden und steilen Klippen, die mit dem tiefblauen Wasser des Mittelmeers kontrastieren, wurde sie in den 1930er Jahren zum Ausgangspunkt einer Lebensutopie, die die Rückkehr zur Natur proklamierte: die Freikörperkultur. Was schon im 18. Jahrhundert als medizinische Anwendung begann, fand schnell Anhänger in ganz Europa.

Die Brüder Durville brachten die Freikörperkultur auf die Insel, wo sie bis heute begeistert gepflegt wird.

Verfügbar bis zum 01/02/2024

No Burkini in Sight! World Skinny Dipping Record Attempted in Wales
Hundreds of people strip off and jump into the freezing cold sea off the Welsh coast in an effort to break the world record for a naked dip

All in a good cause » | Monday, June 20, 2011

Naked Nazis: Book Reveals Extent of Third Reich Body Worship

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Science fiction, jokes and forbidden love: The book market in Nazi Germany was surprisingly varied. But perhaps the most bizarre bestseller to make it past the censors was an unabashed collection of nudist photography. It was a celebration of the Aryan body.

What did Germans read during the Nazi era? In search of the answer, author Christian Adam surveyed a total of 350 bestsellers from the 12 years of the Third Reich's existence -- making striking discoveries in the process. In addition to well-known propaganda books like Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" and Alfred Rosenberg's "The Myth of the Twentieth Century," there were schmaltzy regional novels, science fiction, mysteries, love stories, joke books and cross-media marketed accompaniments to radio programs and films.

The rich variety of reading material likely arose because different censorship offices competed to have the last word on what books publishers could print, Christian says. The paradoxical effect is that some of the books printed seem surprising today. Perhaps the oddest of them all was Hans Surén's "Mensch und Sonne," or "Humans and Sun," a collection of nude photographs that includes lyrical praise of the male member, instructions for yoga-like exercises and even naked skiing.

It could be seen as a precursor to the sexual revolution and "Freikörperkultur (FKK)," or "free body culture" of the late 1960s, if it weren't so blatantly racist, researcher Adam told SPEIGEL ONLINE in an interview. » | Interview conducted by Hilmar Schmundt | Thursday, June 16, 2011

Photo Gallery: Naked Nazis and a Surprise Bestseller »

This article originally appeared in German on einestages.de, SPIEGEL ONLINE’s history portal.

EINESTAGES.de: FKK im “Dritten Reich”: Körperschau mit Nacktmodellen »

The Naked and the Dread

THE TIMES: The hills are alive with the joys of nudity in Switzerland after its courts ruled that ramblers had the right to roam around naked. Our writer joined the hikers

Puistola Grottenpösch looks out across a jagged Swiss horizon, the early-summer snow still fresh on the higher pastures. “I always had the feeling I was alone,” he says, bending over to touch an alpine orchid. “I went on secret walks, early in the morning — hiding behind bushes and feeling unlawful.” We reach an electric fence, and he turns suddenly before straddling it. “Be careful,” he says, “that your little brother is not electrocuted.”

My little brother is cold, as it happens, but unharmed. It, along with the rest of me, is 2,000m (6,561ft) up a Swiss mountain — here to experience the joys of naked hiking, in the month when its advocates won the right to roam freely in the Swiss Alps. Puistola no longer walks alone. Not since he started appearing in the courts. These days he is — reluctantly — one of the world’s most prominent naked hikers.

“I never wanted to start a hubbub,” he says of his celebrity — that has led to appearances on Swiss chatshows and in papers around the world. “I’m not a militant. But they started making trouble.”

The trouble began two years ago. And “they” are the Swiss courts. In 2008 a man was arrested while naked hiking in the mountainous Appenzell region. He argued, successfully, that Swiss law is not a moral codex — and has no prohibitions on nudity. But as a result, one of the Swiss cantons changed its laws so as to make naked hiking an offence. When another hiker was arrested, Puistola — a long-time practitioner of the sport, as well as having some legal experience — offered to represent him. The law, he argued successfully last month, was itself superseded by Swiss federal law.

“It is now accepted there is no law in Switzerland against naked hiking,” Puistola says. “The people have given us the freedom to be naked.” He swings slightly — whether in the wind, which is bracing, or from excitement, which is evident, it is difficult to tell. But the battle is not over, the canton is appealing the decision. Continue reading and comment >>> Tom Whipple | Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Related articles here and here and here.

And on the same theme, this article

Herzlich Willkommen!
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Nude hikers in Germany have a new place to indulge their hobby. One keen naturist has announced the opening of a hiking trail exclusively for those who enjoy walking in the buff.

Heinz Ludwig, who owns a campsite and restaurant in the small village of Dankerode in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt, has another passion beside serving food and providing tents: naked hiking. He is the initiator of a new walking path meandering 18 kilometers (11 miles) through the Harz mountain range in central Germany, which he claims is Germany's first official naked hiking trail.

The official opening ceremony and inaugural walk will take place at the start of the hiking season next May, but hikers are already using the trail, which opened to the public this week. "The only problem I have is that nobody seems willing to take part in the inaugural walk," Ludwig told local media.

Although plenty of people are interested in taking to the hills in nothing but their birthday suits, he says, many are afraid that, if they take part in the high-profile event, images of their naked bodies will pop up on the Internet and in newspapers and magazines all over the world.

However those who shun the pursuit of nude walking are given ample warning if they happen to stumble across the new path. "If you don't want to see naked people, then you shouldn't go past this point," a sign at the beginning of the path reads. The track also leads past a small lake, which has for years been known amongst locals as a hotspot for the unclothed.

The general response to the opening of the new path has so far been positive, which is not surprising given the fact that nudism is more entrenched in the history of Germany than many might expect. The country has a tradition of naturism -- known by its German acronym of FKK -- dating back to the late 19th century, and nude bathing is widely accepted, especially on designated beaches on the Baltic Sea coast. Naked Wanderlust: Germany's First Nudist Hiking Trail Opens >>> Josie Cox | Wednesday, September 23, 2009

FKK (Freikörperkultur) >>>