City officials in Berlin announced on Thursday that all swimmers at public pools will soon be allowed to swim topless

The decision came after a woman was thrown out of an open-air pool for sunbathing topless and subsequently filed a complaint with the senate's ombudsperson's office for equal treatment.

The Berlin authorities agreed that they had been victims of discrimination and changed their clothing rules, establishing equal rights for all Berliners, whether male, female, or non-binary.

The decision is expected to be welcomed by Germany's freikorperkultur, or free body culture.

Germany famously has a relaxed attitude to nudity, but the issue of whether and to what degree that is permissible at municipal swimming pools has plagued many local authorities.

The new rules apply to all visitors at Berlin's public pools and create legal certainty for staff.