Women and girls at Munich's Oktoberfest are being given free cycling shorts to protect them from being filmed under their dresses, after an investigation uncovered tens of thousands of such videos circulating online.
At the center of the scandal is the Teufelsrad, or “Devil’s Wheel,” one of the oldest attractions at the famous German beer festival. The wheel spins rapidly as participants try to stay on it for as long as possible. But during the spin, the women’s traditional dirndl dresses can lift up, exposing their underwear.
An investigation by the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung found that on Meta platforms alone there were more than 32,000 videos related to the Teufelsrad, some of which had amassed millions of views. Many of them focused on women and girls in the moments when their dresses were lifted up during the spin.
The revelation has reignited the debate over so-called "upskirting" - secretly photographing or filming someone up a person's skirt or dress without their consent. The practice has been illegal in Germany since 2020 and is punishable by a fine or up to two years in prison.
The attraction's 80-year-old operator, Elisabeth Polaczy, told the BBC that this year she started offering free cycling shorts to women and girls who wear dresses. She has handed out more than 100 pairs during this Oktoberfest alone.
"I want to do everything I can to make people feel safe," Polaczy said.
Police signs and posters in German and English are posted around the Teufelsrad tent, warning that filming up women's dresses is prohibited. However, according to the operator, it is almost impossible to check everyone filming with their mobile phones.
Bavarian police have confirmed that they will be placing warning posters against this practice at Oktoberfest from 2025.
The problem is not just theoretical. During this year's festival, police arrested a 45-year-old Swiss man accused of filming under a German woman's traditional dress. In 2025, there were 10 arrests for such cases, while in 2024 there were seven.
Investigation into the thousands of videos that continue to circulate online shows, however, that, despite the criminalization of the phenomenon and police warnings, mobile phones and massive distribution on social networks have made it much more difficult to prevent it.
