Oktoberfest organizers in Munich are distributing free cycling shorts to women riding the Teufelsrad, a spinning amusement ride at the beer festival, after an investigation uncovered tens of thousands of voyeuristic videos online.
The Teufelsrad, or Devil's Wheel, is one of the festival's oldest attractions. It spins rapidly while riders attempt to remain seated. German journalists discovered that many circulating videos captured women wearing traditional dirndl dresses, with footage focused on instances where clothing shifted to expose underwear.
The distribution of cycling shorts represents a direct response to documented upskirting on the ride. Organizers have framed the shorts as protective equipment for festival attendees. The action acknowledges a specific vulnerability created by both the ride's mechanics, which generate upward forces on clothing, and the systematic recording of such moments for online distribution.
The scale of the problem, reflected in the thousands of videos found circulating, indicates sustained voyeurism rather than isolated incidents. The investigation's findings prompted festival leadership to take preventive measures rather than pursue enforcement-only approaches.