Fresh sight of freedom awaits Bush on G8 beach

Heiligendamm (Germany), May 25: George W Bush has often expressed his admiration for the yearning for freedom in Communist East Germany that led to the collapse of the Berlin Wall on his father's watch 18 years ago.

But the US president may get more freedom than he bargained for next month at the G8 summit here, as this Baltic coast resort includes a beach long popular with local nudists.

''There's no greater joy than sitting on the beach without any clothes on,'' said Rudolf Schuetze, a retired government accountant who has spent the last 40 summers doing just that about 100 metres west of the Kempinski Grand Hotel.

''I hope Bush will come down and join us,'' added Schuetze, 66, sitting nude on a beach near the hotel where world leaders will meet. ''It's good for your health. All your troubles disappear when you give your body the sun, air and water it needs.'' Several dozen men, women and children of all ages, shapes and sizes wore nothing but smiles and seamless tans on a recent hot afternoon, just west of the elegant complex where Chancellor Angela Merkel will host the meeting of world leaders.

Old habits die hard in a part of the world where stripping down naked at the beach or in camping grounds was a subtle but popular form of rebellion against the Communist rulers.

While many nudists on the beach here, known as the ''Kinderstrand'', complained tight security may force them elsewhere, Schuetze is a resident of this small town and is confident he will be free to lie naked near the summit.

Even though it is hard to imagine a security threat from naked sunbathers -- who, after all, can't conceal anything -- many said they would retreat to other beaches just beyond a new security fence ringing the town.

Symbol of Freedom

''It's a free country now,'' said Schuetze, who spent 27 years working as an accountant in the environment ministries of East Germany, and later reunited Germany. ''No one can take that away from us. In the east, skinny-dipping was a symbol of freedom.'' Western Germans are generally not accustomed to so much flesh and sometimes complain to their hotel managers or tour operators. On occasion tempers flare if easterners strip down on beaches where skinny-dipping is expressly verboten.

''The Wessies are almost as prudish as the Americans,'' said Christiane Rose, 41, a hairdresser with a full body tan and a friendly smile. ''It would do Bush some good to come down and join us. It'll give him a new 'Weltanschauung' (world view).'' Nowhere has the tradition of nude sunbathing, or the Free Body Culture known as FKK, been as popular as on Germany's Baltic shore.

The FKK movement was founded in the early 20th century and succeeded in taking much of the smut out of nudity.

Before the Berlin Wall fell, when Bush's father was president, nudists dominated East German beaches like Heiligendamm. Locals estimate 50 to 90 percent of the sunbathers were naked.

''It's always been a part of our lives,'' said Mendy Kruse, 33, soaking up the sun from head to toe with Rose. ''It feels so natural. It would be totally uncomfortable if someone made us wear a swim suit after being free for so long. No thanks!'' NOTHING TO HIDE There are intriguing theories about how eastern Germans developed a taste for nude sunbathing during the four decades of communist rule while westerners stayed buttoned up -- although women do often go topless in the west.

Easterners, raised in the atheist Communist state, blame the influence of the Catholic and Protestant churches for prudish western attitudes. Westerners say the shoddy quality of East German bathing suits made easterners prefer being naked.

In the past, Bush has become almost lyrical when talking about Merkel's upbringing as an East German pastor's daughter behind the Iron Curtain, and the East German longing to be free. Local nudists wonder what he will make of them.

''I think he actually had another type of freedom in mind,'' said Ulrike Hoffmeister, 27, a graphic designer. ''I don't think we'll have to worry about seeing him on the beach with us. Like most Americans, he'd probably be shocked if he comes down.'' But Schuetze, the retired government accountant, said he remained hopeful the American president, who stays fit with bicycle workouts, might join in a refreshing skinny dip in the chilly Baltic sea after a ride in the nearby forest.

''He doesn't have anything to hide,'' said Schuetze. ''And besides, in the water, everything shrinks a bit anyhow.''

Reuters>