Hundreds ride naked through Berlin in first World Naked Bike Ride to promote declining naturist movement

A nude ride through the capital

Hundreds of cyclists pedalled through Berlin on Sunday, 9 August 2026, in the city's first edition of the World Naked Bike Ride. Police estimated about 500 participants, while Bild reported as many as 700; organisers themselves gave a range of 500 to 700. The ride began at Mauerpark in eastern Berlin under sunny skies and temperatures of about 30 degrees Celsius, then passed through the central government district. The route of more than 30 kilometres, described by one source as 33 km, followed the Berlin Wall trail southward toward Schönefeld, near the capital's airport. Police accompanied the procession, which was expected to end by evening. Participants could choose to ride fully naked, topless, or dressed to whatever degree they found comfortable, according to the organisers.

Messages and motivations

The organisers said they wanted to reinterpret the classic FKK motto "Naked, we are all equal" by shifting the emphasis from sameness to the diversity of human bodies. The demonstration stood for tolerance, self-acceptance, closeness to nature, environmental protection, inclusion, and diversity, according to the event's website. One organiser explained beforehand that a core idea of naturism is encountering people without clothes, because in that state people meet without masks and without symbols of social status.

Co-organiser Ralf Sprenger, who also leads the Taunus naked mountain-bike group that normally rides in Hesse, framed the event as a recruiting tool for a movement losing adherents.

“Ich liebe es einfach, nackt zu sein. Und für mich ist auch Nacktheit nichts, wofür ich mich schämen muss.”

He added that the goal was to show that no one needs to fear nudity. The warm weather was a welcome side effect.

“Das Fahren nackt bei diesen Temperaturen ist fast ein bisschen wie schwimmen in der Luft, also es ist wunderschön.”

Participant Aron offered a simpler rationale.

“Ich finde, wir übertreiben es mit Autos, mit Klamotten.”

A movement in decline

The German FKK federation, the DFK, counted 65,000 members in the late 1990s; today only about 34,000 remain, roughly half. Clubs and naturist associations across Germany have reported a growing decline in membership in recent years, and organisers said they hoped the ride would help reverse that trend.

1990s65,000

202634,000

1990s

65000 members

2026

34000 members

Data from the article text

Who showed up

The crowd was predominantly male and skewed older, with many men past 50 and noticeably few women or younger participants. Merlin Steuer, a 33-year-old from the IT sector who co-founded the initiative Get Naked Germany e.V. to attract younger people to Freikörperkultur, remarked on the gender imbalance and said he found it regrettable. Hartmut Köhler, 61, who works in functional safety, said he had travelled to Berlin specifically to take part and was pleased that naturists from the Taunus near Frankfurt am Main had organised the premiere. For him, the point was to show that there is a difference between sexual nudity and the enjoyment of sport or nature, simply as one was created.