APPENZELL, SWITZERLAND – Most brave souls who choose to hike the Swiss Alps invest a fair amount of money in their gear, including their clothing. However, based on a recent vote, there are apparently enough nature and exercise lovers who enjoy taking in the Swiss mountain sights sans clothing that the citizenry chose to make it illegal.Two short months ago, the petite state of Appelzell Inner Rhodes put the question of whether hikers who decide to doff their togs during their rambles through the Alpine wilderness should pay a fine for doing so. The answer was yes, about $176 per violation seemed appropriate for the transgression.
Likely to pay the fine are primarily German nudists, dozens of whom have been spotted wandering the trails without a stitch over their dangly or jiggy bits. Alas for them, very few citizens chose to speak in their defense.
The issue apparently became noteworthy last autumn when the Germanic tourists began showing up in eastern Switzerland, keen to inhale fresh air and expose their bare bodies to the healing rays of the sun on paths they considered discreet.
Extolled on German websites as “a special experience of nature, free and healthy” with roots in antiquity, nude hikers began taking to the walking paths ultimately wearing nothing but their hiking boots and socks.
Unlike the web text writers, not everybody who surveyed the natural expanse wanted to see pasty white German bodies, apparently, and complaints were made against “this shameless behavior.”
“The reactions of the population have shown that such appearances over a large area are perceived as thoroughly disturbing and irritating,” the government explained in a statement.
Nude nature hikes in France and various regions of Germany are also promoted on German sites, probably owing to the country’s long tolerance of nudity, which reaches back to the 18th century and the “Free Body Culture” movement. By contrast, Switzerland has traditionally been more conservative concerning exposure of the human body.
The Associated Press reports that similar legislation is being prepared in neighboring Appenzell Outer Rhodes.
