According to BN magazine, a new naked hiking trail has been officially opened in Switzerland. In the very same country where a specific county banned naked hiking several years ago. Wonders will never cease 😀
26 thoughts on “Naked hiking trail in puritan Switzerland?”
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Yes, it was 20minutes, and you are compeletely right with the rest! You should also consider that the vote for this "public naked law" was public, and your co-voters could have seen if you voted against it!!
As a member of this odd crowd I like to point out that people can be quite different depending on the region where they live. We hav 26 cantons and 8 million people, but only one canton – and one of the smallest and most conservative – decreed a prohibition for naked hiking. At the time when this "problem" was in the media, an online publication made a survey about the acceptance of naked hiking in Switzerland. The result was that a clear majority had much sympathy for the naked hikers – but they said they would not have the courage to do it themselves!
Was that the 20Minutes paper, Renato? If so, I remember reading that was always topical on the tube.
It is interesting how most people can find something entirely acceptable, (as most people find naked hiking entirely acceptable), but the puritan minority still manage to make the most noise and are therefore obeyed in the courts. And I mean this *everywhere*.
I acquired my own love of naked saunas during holidays at Swiss hotels, but I have to say, the people I met in there were almost always Dutch or German. Even though the hotels had Swiss guests, who would use the (textile) pool, they seemed reluctant to venture past the "no costumes" signs and into the "naked zone".
Whilst making sweeping generalisations about national stereotypes, I should add (especially for Renato) that the Brits mostly just arrogantly disregarded the signs altogether.
Some of my best friends are Swissis 🙂
Curious. A country that apparently allows coed changing rooms, and nude-friendly wellness spa's is so against nude hiking… It's a bit like that other aberration, Australia, which generally has the weather to support a nude lifestyle, but not the community nor police tolerance.
The Swissis are a very odd crowd. They have the Germanic love of naked saunas, but the a puritan view on nudity. I recall a Zurich public swimming pool which has separate changing rooms for men, and for women, and, wait for it, …children. WTF is all that about…?!
Well, the article was not incorrect, but the Harz region is in northern Germany – quite far away from Switzerland. At least you see here that not only Swiss people can change their mind when they expect to earn (more) money!
Very interesting – although it seems to confirm the prejudice that Swiss are mainly interested in money. But what is the BN magazine? Where can I read it? Where should be this hiking trail? I hardly can believe it!
http://www.bn.org.uk
The magazine is the quarterly publication for members of BN (British Naturism). A PDF version is on their website (http://bn.org.uk) but I suspect only members have the necessary access to download it.
However, it looks rather like the article was incorrect. The trail referred to doesn't seem to be in Switzerland at all but rather in Germany, in the Harz region. http://www.ausflugsziele-harz.de/ausflugsziele-sehenswertes/wandern-biken/harzer-naturistenstieg.htm
The article did provide an entirely plausible explanation of this however. The locals were against it, until someone explained how it would make them money, whereupon all objections swiftly vanished. Very Swiss!
As a friend of mine, who lives there part-time, says – In Switzerland, anything is possible – all it takes is money. 😉