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Oktoberfest ride operator hands out free shorts to women amid upskirting videos

The operator of the Teufelsrad (Devil's Wheel) at Munich's Oktoberfest has given women free cycling shorts after thousands of videos filmed under skirts spread online. Police, the city and a campaign group are also responding, and critics say German law falls short.

2 outlets · 0L · 2C · 0R First reported Account updated
Image: BBC News
Image: The Times of India

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The story, neutrally told

Centre · 2The operator of the Teufelsrad (Devil's Wheel), a ride at Munich's Oktoberfest, has been handing out free cycling shorts to women after thousands of voyeuristic videos appeared on social media. Centre · 1The ride's circular platform rotates faster and faster until riders fall off, and the motion often makes skirts fly up. Centre · 2According to the Munich daily Süddeutsche Zeitung, at least 32,000 videos of women on the Teufelsrad have circulated, and some have apparently been viewed millions of times.

Centre · 2Broadcaster BR reported that one woman earned €9,000 from a single clip, that some images were digitally altered to make women appear naked, and that its investigation found a group of professional YouTubers from Ukraine and several people from Bavaria behind the videos. Centre · 2Operator Elisabeth Polaczy, 80, told the BBC she has given free cycling shorts to women and girls in dresses for three years, and more than 100 pairs this Oktoberfest, saying: "I want to do everything I can to make people feel secure." Centre · 2Polaczy said the tent carries signs and police posters in German and English against filming under skirts, but that it is impossible to control everyone with a smartphone; some waitresses have also started wearing cycling shorts under their dirndls.

Centre · 2Filming under skirts is illegal in Germany and carries up to two years in prison, but critics say the law does not go far enough. Centre · 1Josephine Ballon, head of the non-profit Hate Aid, said the law "applies only when you film under the skirt", not when a skirt simply flies up and is photographed; she said new legislation is planned, warned of camera glasses, and wants those who upload intimate images, and the platforms hosting them, punished. Centre · 1A Bavarian police spokesman said police have run an upskirting poster campaign at Oktoberfest since 2025; this year they arrested a 45-year-old Swiss man for filming under a German woman's dirndl, after 10 upskirting arrests last year and seven in 2024.

Centre · 2Munich has also banned live streams from the festival and requires a paid city permit to film there, with hundreds issued this year to influencers.

Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.

Left0 outlets

No left outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.

Centre2 outlets

Framing
Both outlets present a human-interest and legal-gap story built around the ride operator's practical response, with Hate Aid's criticism of the law and the police and city measures as context. The Times of India closely follows the BBC's reporting, citing it for Polaczy and police.
Emphasis
The scale of the videos, the money made from them, Polaczy's quote, and the limits of German law.
Leaves out or plays down
Neither includes comment from the video makers, platforms or the city authorities beyond the rules described; the Times of India adds no independent reporting.
Charged language
“voyeuristic”“growing controversy”
For example
“after thousands of voyeuristic videos emerged on social media.” — BBC News
“has become the centre of a growing controversy over voyeuristic videos” — The Times of India

Right0 outlets

No right outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.