Adolf Koch

These three are from Adolf Koch's 1929 book, the title of which

translates as Nudity, Body Culture, and Education.

The photographer was anonymous.

 

Steinwerfer

This is Steinwerfer, or Stone Thrower, by K. Kummer.

Shot or Rocks?

I can't tell if these Germans are getting ready to do the shot put or heave rocks.

 

Germans

Take a close look and enlarge this one if you can.  You'll see some 

interesting details among these late 19th Century beach goers.

 

Germans

These are Germans in what at the time was the town of Stolp in Pomerania.  

After World War II, the area was transferred to Poland and became known as Slupsk.

The men are doing amateir gymnastics in what viewer Adamskostum

has told me was desctibed back then as an air bath format.

 

Germans

These Germans look rather jovial to be doing a Grim Reaper schtick.  Maybe they were out cutting hay in a forest meadow and just decided to doff their clothes.  Germans would do that.

 

More Germans

These Germans posed for a group picture in the woods at one of those early 20th C. retreats.

Of course I'm loving the bears with striped shorts.

 

Unknown German

I was quite pleased to see this early 20th Century German photo in the Getty collection.

They do not shrink from the informal and unknown, and that's a good thing.

 

Freilicht I

Around 1900, Koch and some other German photographers used a style they called Freilicht, which translates as "free light."  It was an open air and generally nature oriented style.

This is the first of two examples in today's series.

 

Freilicht II

This is the second German Freilicht series photo in today's set.

He looks like he's sneaking up on something in the forest.

 

Germans

You knew we weren't going to get through this without

 some early 20th C. Germans, and here they are.

 

Nudist Week, Day 5 - Before there was FKK, there was Wandervogel

In the late 19th Century, there was a nature movement called Wandervogel (wandering bird) that eventually became partly naturist/nudist before morphing into FKK.  Into exercise, sunshine, fresh air, and healthy living, the Wandervogelers had a tendency to march about the countryside, sometimes singing and dancing.  In one famous episode, a band of them entered the town of Erfurt, and within an hour or so, 10,000 citizens joined them in folk dancing in the streets, presumably clothed.  The photo above shows a small group from 1912 in a pasture in North Germany.

 

Photo of Richard Ungewitter

Richard Ungewitter (1969-1958) was a writer, philosopher, and advocate who started in the Wandervogel movement and ended up being one of the founders of the subsequent FKK.  He advocated compulsory nudity, with one of his more unsusual arguments being that clothing caused tuberculosis, among other diseases.  Ungewitter also promoted vegetarianism, raw foods, and abstaining from tobacco and alcohol.  On the down side, he was anti-semitic and agreed with some of the Nazi racial theories.  He was disappointed when the Nazis did not directly adopt more of his ideas.

 

Trust jump

I think this photo is probably on the cusp between the Wandervogel and FKK eras,

and it show a nude version of one of those therapeutic trust falls.

 

Solo 1908

The title of this 1908 photo from the Prussian section of an online archive translates as "A Hellenistic German."  It was grouped with Wandervogel photos, so I assume there was a Greek influence.

 

Exercise

Fresh air and exercise were hallmarks of these guys,

and here we see some early weightlifting.

 

Farm

The Wandervogelers were way ahead of their time in a lot of ways.

This photo was made at a model farm that would be called organic today.

 

Youth oriented

Wandervogel was in many ways a youth movement,

and this 1896 photo taken near Berlin bears that out.

 

Photo by Richard Ungewitter

The quality, or lack of it, on this Richard Ungewitter photo is probaby 

the result of the poor reproduction quality of the magazine in which it was 

published.  Herr U. was actually a pretty competent photographer.

 

Nature Boy

The unidentified man at center here was one of a number of "nature boy" types who were very influential in Wandervogel circles.  They all seem to have had long hair, beards, and either wore dresses or very little or nothing.  Some were writers and philosophers who followed a natural lifestyle and are considered forerunners of the hippies.  If there is interest, I can do a series on them later.