Despite complaints from tenants, the court did not find the conduct “inappropriate.”
A German now has every right to sit in his chaise longue, in the courtyard of his building, in the sun… naked. The landlord would have received complaints from the tenants, which had been discussed in court.
The owner, who has not been identified, has filed a lawsuit against the human resources agency that leased facilities in his building. According to Frankfurt’s highest regional court, the company started paying because of the landlord’s willingness to sunbathe naked in a communal yard.
The company reduced and partially suspended rent for its office in the apartment building, saying the landlord had gone down the stairs naked into the courtyard, “and a resident or visitor who happened to be in the area at the time, confronted them with their nudity.”
Following this process, a legal team visited the site and did not find this to be the case. “Instead, the target stated that he always wore a bathrobe, which he only took off in front of the restroom,” the court was told. Citations CNN.
The court ruled in favor of the owner, holding that “plaintiff’s use of the property was not affected by his sunbathing naked in the yard.”
In addition, he considered that “aesthetic sensibilities are irrelevant” and he did not recognize “improper action”.
The decision also states that if HR firm employees “lean out of the window” the owner’s sunbathing area is visible only from the office cubicles.
However, the court ruled that the rent should be reduced. Not because the land owner gets exposed to the sun, but because of the construction work in the neighborhood that causes noise and dust. Tenants were able to get a 15% reduction in payments for three months. However, the court recalled that it was not meant to “offend someone else’s aesthetic sensibilities.”
Freikoerperkultur, or “free body culture,” is nothing new. The practice dates back to the late 19th century and is popular in Germany, with many promiscuous adherents sunbathing naked on lakes, beaches and sometimes even on their balconies.
To give you an idea, around 600,000 Germans are registered in more than 300 private nudist clubs.