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Thousands of videos showing women on the Teufelsrad have reportedly circulated on social media, with some clips attracting millions of views.
The concern is that people in the crowd may deliberately use their smartphones to record.
Women riding one of the oldest attractions at Germany’s famous Munich Oktoberfest are being handed free cycling shorts by the ride operator and the reason has little to do with comfort. The shorts are being given out to prevent voyeuristic videos of women being filmed from underneath as they ride the attraction.
The ride in question is the Teufelsrad, or Devil’s Wheel, a giant rotating platform at the annual beer festival. As the circular platform spins faster and faster, riders struggle to keep their balance before eventually being thrown off. For women wearing skirts or the traditional German dirndl dress, the movement can cause their clothing to fly up.
This has turned the attraction into an unlikely source of voyeuristic online content.
Thousands of videos showing women on the Teufelsrad have reportedly circulated on social media, with some clips attracting millions of views. According to German broadcaster BR, one woman reportedly earned around €9,000 from a single video posted online.
The scale of the problem prompted Elisabeth Polaczy, the 80-year-old operator of the Teufelsrad, to take an unusual step. For the past three years, she has been offering free cycling shorts to women and girls wearing dresses before they get on the ride.
“I want to do everything I can to make people feel secure,” Polaczy told the BBC. She said she has handed out more than 100 pairs of cycling shorts during this year’s Oktoberfest alone.
Why Are Women Being Given Shorts?
The issue is not simply that skirts can fly up during the ride. The concern is that people in the crowd may deliberately use their smartphones to record what happens underneath.
Filming under someone’s skirt, commonly known as upskirting, is illegal in Germany and can carry a prison sentence of up to two years. However, campaigners say the existing law has limitations. Josephine Ballon, head of German non-profit Hate Aid, told the BBC that current legislation applies when someone deliberately films under a skirt, but may not cover every situation in which a skirt is blown or lifted and the resulting images are photographed.
The problem has become particularly difficult to control at the Oktoberfest, where thousands of visitors carry smartphones and the Teufelsrad attracts large crowds.
More Than 32,000 Videos Reportedly Circulated
The extent of the online material has raised concerns in Munich. The Süddeutsche Zeitung reported that at least 32,000 videos featuring women on the Teufelsrad have been circulating. Some have reportedly been watched millions of times.
Bavarian police have been running an anti-upskirting campaign at Oktoberfest since 2025, using posters warning visitors that filming under people’s clothes is a crime.
There were 10 arrests for upskirting at Oktoberfest last year and seven in 2024. Some waitresses at this year’s festival have also reportedly started wearing cycling shorts underneath their dirndls.
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Ask News18Women and girls wearing skirts or traditional dirndl dresses are given free cycling shorts to prevent voyeuristic videos and upskirting from being filmed as they ride the Teufelsrad, or Devil’s Wheel.
Ask News18Delhi, India, India
October 03, 2026, 12:12 IST
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