Oktoberfest Ride Hands Out Free Shorts as Upskirt Videos Spread Online
MUNICH — The operator of one of Oktoberfest’s best-known amusement rides has begun handing out free cycling shorts to women and girls in dresses, after thousands of voyeuristic videos filmed at the Munich beer festival circulated on social media.
The ride, the Teufelsrad — or Devil’s Wheel — has become an unlikely flashpoint in Germany’s debate over upskirting and digital harassment. Its circular platform spins faster and faster until riders slide off, a spectacle that often sends skirts flying upward. The attraction is among the oldest at Oktoberfest, the annual festival that closes this weekend after 16 days.
Videos of women on the Teufelsrad, many wearing traditional dirndl dresses, have drawn millions of views online. One clip is said to have earned the woman who posted it thousands of euros. Bavarian broadcaster BR reported that a single clip generated €9,000 (£7,650) for one woman, and that its investigation traced the videos to a group of professional YouTubers from Ukraine as well as several people from Bavaria.
According to the Munich-based daily Süddeutsche Zeitung, at least 32,000 videos of women on the Teufelsrad have been in circulation. Some have apparently been viewed millions of times. In some cases, the images have been digitally altered to show the women naked, according to BR.
Filming under someone’s skirt is illegal in Germany and can carry a two-year jail sentence. But critics argue that the law does not go far enough, especially when the footage captures underwear or is manipulated and shared across platforms.
Elisabeth Polaczy, the 80-year-old operator of the Teufelsrad, told the BBC that she has spent the past three years handing out free cycling shorts to women and girls wearing dresses, hoping to protect them from people filming in the crowd. This Oktoberfest alone, she said, she has distributed more than 100 pairs.
“I want to do everything I can to make people feel secure,” Polaczy said.
She acknowledged that donating the shorts is not cheap, but said the expense is worth it for her own peace of mind. The Teufelsrad tent is hung with signs and police posters in German and English warning against filming under people’s skirts. Still, Polaczy said, it is impossible to control everyone who carries a smartphone.
The concern has spread beyond the ride. Some waitresses at this year’s festival say they have started wearing cycling shorts under their dirndls. A spokesman for Bavarian police told the BBC that since 2025 the force has run a poster campaign at Oktoberfest warning against upskirting. One police poster timed for this year’s festival states plainly that “upskirting is a crime.”
Police this year arrested a 45-year-old Swiss man for using his phone to film under a German woman’s dirndl. The BBC reported that there were 10 arrests for upskirting last year and seven in 2024, figures that advocates say capture only part of the problem.
Josephine Ballon, who heads the German nonprofit Hate Aid, which supports victims of digital violence, told the BBC that current legislation offers insufficient protection. Although plans for a new law are in the works, she said, existing rules “apply only when you film under the skirt” — not when a skirt simply flies up and is photographed. She also described new camera glasses as a growing threat.
Ballon wants anyone who uploads intimate images of women online to face punishment, along with the platforms that host such material. Her argument reflects a wider shift in Germany and elsewhere: as hidden cameras become smaller and social media rewards viral spectacle, the harm can continue long after the festival ends.
Munich authorities, meanwhile, have moved to tighten rules for influencers and content creators who earn money from social media posts and want to film at Oktoberfest. The city has banned live streams from the festival and requires anyone who wants to film there to hold a permit, issued for a fee. Hundreds of licenses have been granted this year to influencers who make money through product placement or sponsorship.
For Polaczy, the free shorts are a practical response to a problem that technology and law have yet to fully solve. But the episode also raises broader questions about consent, privacy and accountability at a festival famous for tradition and revelry — and about whether women should have to change what they wear to avoid being filmed without permission.
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