Women have been given cycling shorts at the Teufelsrad, a popular rotating attraction at Munich’s Oktoberfest, after a surge of voyeuristic videos surfaced online. The operator, 80‑year‑old Elisabeth Polaczy, said she has handed out more than 100 pairs of shorts this year to protect women and girls from potential upskirting.
The Teufelsrad spins riders who sit or lie down, a motion that can lift skirts and dresses. Footage of this happening has been widely shared, with a Munich daily reporting at least 32,000 videos of women on the ride in circulation and some viewed millions of times. Polaczy noted that the ride is surrounded by signs and police posters warning against filming, but controlling the crowd is difficult.
In response, the festival has deployed AI‑powered cameras and a poster campaign against upskirting that began in 2025. Police expect 600 officers on duty, along with riot police, specialised pickpocket investigators and international task forces from eight countries. Some waitresses have also begun wearing shorts under their dirndls, and a local broadcaster reported that footage has been digitally altered to show staff naked; a group of professional YouTubers from Ukraine and Bavaria produced the clips, with one woman earning €9,000 from a single clip.
Upskirting, defined as taking intrusive photographs up someone’s skirt or dress, is a criminal offence in Germany with up to two years’ imprisonment, criminalised in 2020. In the UK it became illegal in 2019 under the Voyeurism (Offences) Act. Munich’s Oktoberfest, the world’s largest beer festival, attracts more than six million visitors over 16 days, drawing crowds from around the globe.
