Warnemünde, Germany, May 2009

I was recently in Rostock, Germany, which is a quite pleasant port city on the Baltic Sea. People I talked who had been there in the early nineties, right after reunification, described it as pretty grim, but now it seems quite attractive. I didn't have any chance to photograph in Rostock, but I did have some time to visit the nearby beach resort town and ferry terminal Warnemünde. It was accessible by frequent and fast train service. Warnemünde seemed like a very charming town, and had very nice beaches. It was interesting to see how the Germans managed their beach: it was divided into blocks, and there were signs for each block indicating which activities were or were not permitted. So in some areas it was ok to kitesurf, and in others it was verboten.

There was a section of the beach specifically designated as clothing-optional. There was a sign at the boundary that indicated the end of the clothed section of the beach on one side, and indicate the end of the clothing-optional section of the beach on the other side. The clothing optional section was designated as FKK which apparently is the initials of a naturist movement that goes back to the beginning of the twentieth century.

Hate to disappoint you, but it was windy and not very warm when I was there so there weren't that many bathers in general, and even few bathers in their birthday suits, and I wouldn't have photographed them even if they were there. Most of the people out on the beach that day were windsurfing or engaged in other watersports.

The gallery is here: http://canghuixu.smugmug.com/gallery/8425551_4zVdV

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