One woman made €9,000 (£7,650) from a single clip, according to BR, whose investigations found that a group of professional YouTubers from Ukraine and several people from Bavaria were behind the videos.
At least 32,000 videos of women on the Teufelsrad have been in circulation, according to Munich-based daily Süddeutsche Zeitung. Some have apparently been viewed millions of times.
The operator of the Teufelsrad, Elisabeth Polaczy, told the BBC that, for the past three years, she has been handing out free cycling shorts to women and girls wearing dresses, to protect them from people filming in the crowd.
This Oktoberfest she has handed out more than 100 pairs, she says: “I want to do everything I can to make people feel secure.”
Polaczy, who is now 80, said donating cycling shorts wasn’t cheap, but it was 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, but Polaczy says it is impossible to control everyone filming with smart phones.
Some waitresses at this year’s beer festival say they have also started wearing cycling shorts under their dirndls.
A spokesman for the Bavarian police told the BBC that since 2025, it has run a poster campaign at the Oktoberfest, warning against upskirting.
