Culture Shock: Nudity in Germany

By: Brea Darnell

When it comes to culture shock, of all the things Americans will find the most ‘shocking’ (heh) when coming to Germany is the complete absence of being shy when it comes to nudity. In Germany nudity is a normal part of life. Under everyone’s clothes you are naked, after all, so why be shy about showing a little skin? This is evident in many aspects of German living and as an American you will probably notice it fairly quickly upon arriving. While you won’t see people walking the streets in their birthday suits, you will notice a few things that are different from the U.S. Some of these things you might notice are the abundance of sex shops with signs displaying naked women (and men) in the windows for advertising. When you tune into German television you might think you accidentally stumbled upon an X-rated movie only to find that it is a commercial in the middle of normal programming. More surprising is when you go to one of German’s famed spas or saunas and you are told it is not permitted to wear your swimsuit inside the sauna. The horror! As an American this is very shocking to find out and may sway you from even going to one of the baths. But don’t fret too much, in many saunas you can wear a towel to cover up (the Germans do this too). Another situation you might run into (we sure did) is when you drive or walk past a spa. Many of these have outdoor areas that aren’t covered from a passerby’s glance, or the look of complete shock on an American's face once they realize a bunch of old men are hanging out, quite literally, on the rooftop together.

With this in mind, it may come as no surprise that this transcends into other areas of German life including your visit to the doctor. If you are completely shy about even being in a swimsuit publicly then you might have a hard time seeing a German doctor. Let me elaborate. I decided a few days ago to find a physical therapist that might be able to better address my back problems that I’ve been having. I found a place that speaks English nearby and luckily they had a cancellation and were able to fit me into their schedule yesterday. I had a friend last week that was telling me about her experience with her physical therapist. She told me that they basically just told her to strip down to bra and underwear. This wasn't a complete surprise to me as I already had an idea of what to expect having been through two foot surgeries here in the past year. The word privacy doesn't exactly exist, and you quickly learn to abandon any pride you once held. So what if your hospital administered cover-up didn't cover you up, stop acting so American!

So armed with this knowledge and knowing how different things are in Germany, I made sure to wear my workout clothes to the appointment. And sure enough, he asked me to get down to bra and underwear. What cracks me up is that, unlike if this were to happen in the states, they don’t even leave the room. But don’t worry, it’s no big deal. Why leave the room when they can just stand there while you undress?

This PT has been working with both Germans and Americans for about twenty years, so he is very familiar with the cultural differences. He asked if I wanted him to leave the room because he knows how Americans are. He also told me that in his experience Americans are either very shy or go the completely opposite direction and over the top with things. I like to think I’ve already been de-sensitized for the most part from my ‘American’ ways, but some of my Americanness (I know that's not a word) must have started to show because at one point he nicely reminded me that he sees all sorts of people and has been doing this for a long time. I guess you can't undo 26 years in just a year in the German system.

Once you live here and go to see a doctor you realize there’s really no point in being shy. It only makes things more awkward than necessary. It's their job to get in there and do what they have to do. As with all things over here: When in Germany, do as the Germans do!