In most European cities, naked people in the streets are generally a cause for concern. Munich is much more welcoming. On a temperate day, visitors will encounter all sorts of nude peacocking in the Schönfeldwiese, a grassy meadow in the 926-acre Englischer Garten, Munich’s version of Central Park. Body-positive locals toss volleyballs, sunbathe, and monitor the bottles of Augustiner-Bräu they’ve submerged in the stream. It all seems very free-spirited, perhaps even French.
In some ways, Munich is loud and proud about its past. It’s the birthplace of Oktoberfest, Richard Strauss, and the glockenspiel. It’s wheat beer swigged from a gallon-size stein, a jovial waitress busting out of her Trachten, a Christmas market on the Marienplatz, a blue-and-white Maypole in a market square.
