Nudity and Movement in German Body Culture, 1910-1935

This meticulous investigation into the Weimer Republic’s naturist movements and its concurrent naked dance training/choreographic styles will surely stand as the definitive study of these complex issues for many years to come.

The dense chapters of this book serve up a most original interpretation of the ways in which “liberating divestiture” entered into the construction of the “identity of the avant-garde intelligentsia” through the visual presentation of the “modern body.”

Toepfer argues that both naturism and naked dance/gymnastics aimed to break through the rationalizations for mass culture in a search of “transcendent” possibilities. In doing so, he takes advantage of much unpublished archival material and rare photographs. Quite a few of both are reprinted here.

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