The operator of one of Oktoberfest's oldest rides is handing out free cycling shorts to women and girls in dresses, after German journalists found tens of thousands of voyeuristic videos filmed on the attraction and shared online.
The ride, the Teufelsrad or Devil's Wheel, is a large spinning disc on which visitors try to stay seated for as long as possible without being flung off. The motion often makes the skirts of traditional dirndl dresses, the Alpine-region women's dress widely worn at the Munich beer festival, ride up. Research by the Munich daily Süddeutsche Zeitung and the broadcaster BR found more than 32,000 videos linked to the ride on Meta platforms alone, some with millions of views. BR spoke to one woman who appeared in a video watched more than 74 million times; she described being mocked in the comments, being recognised by men, and at one point feeling desperate.
Elisabeth Polaczy, the 80-year-old operator, told the BBC she wants to do everything she can to make people feel secure. She has given out more than 100 pairs this year, and reportedly has done so for about three years. Some waitresses at the festival are also said to wear cycling shorts under their dirndls. Polaczy said it is hard to control everyone filming with smartphones. Signs in German and English, along with police posters, warn against filming under skirts, and announcements urge visitors not to do so.
The footage can also be lucrative. BR's investigation found people in Bavaria and Ukraine who systematically filmed and sold such material. One woman from Upper Bavaria reportedly admitted filming more than 600 videos in 18 days in 2024 and offered over 500 for sale for a few hundred euros. A Ukrainian Telegram group reportedly charged €6 per minute for footage showing only women. BR also found deepfakes that digitally undressed women filmed on the ride.
Upskirting, secretly filming or photographing under someone's clothing without consent, has been a criminal offence in Germany since 2020 (some reports say 2021), punishable by a fine or up to two years in prison. Police arrested a 45-year-old Swiss man this year for filming under a German woman's dirndl; there were 10 such arrests in 2025 and seven in 2024.
Women's rights advocates say the law does not go far enough. According to BR, it applies differently when someone deliberately films under a skirt than when a camera records the whole ride and a skirt happens to blow up. Deepfakes are not explicitly illegal, though the German justice ministry is reportedly drafting an extension to cover sexualised deepfakes, which is being discussed within the government. Munich has also banned livestreams from the festival grounds and requires content creators to obtain a paid permit.