Munich officials trigger row over redesigned Oktoberfest figures

Redesigned papier-mâché figures at Munich’s Teufelsrad amusement ride have sparked a debate about racism, sexism and alleged prudishness ahead of this year’s Oktoberfest, BR reported. The city’s office for women’s equality had recommended changes, while several politicians called the move excessive.

About three weeks before the festival opens, the dispute centres on female figures above the entrance to the Teufelsrad. The Munich office for women’s equality urged operator Elisabeth Polaczy to revise them.

The office told BR that the previous 80-year-old depiction of a Hawaiian woman, the only Black female figure shown without a top or shoes and covered only by a flower lei, reinforced “a racist stereotype”. It also said some of the figures’ clothing was too revealing, particularly in view of upskirting, the filming or photographing under women’s skirts.

“The previous depiction of the figures at the Teufelsrad played with skirts flying up and the view of intimate areas becoming visible,” the office said. Together with the city’s democracy unit, it said it wanted to prevent sexist and racist depictions at the Oktoberfest.

Polaczy subsequently had the Hawaiian figure painted with a top. The other women now wear blouses and cycling shorts, which are also handed out at the Teufelsrad to protect women from unwanted views of their intimate areas.

The changes became public late last week and prompted a debate over whether they were necessary or effective.

Anja Berger, a Green Party city councillor responsible for the Oktoberfest, said on Monday that women must not be reduced to their bodies and that sexism was unacceptable. “But we do not need exaggerated prudishness,” she said.

Berger said the discussion had become overly detailed and contentious, while the more important question was how to ensure that the Oktoberfest was a place where women and girls could move around safely and feel comfortable, regardless of how revealingly they chose to dress. She said she had not initiated the changes and considered them excessive.

Her fellow Green Party member Mona Fuchs, Munich’s second mayor, had already called on Friday for the issue not to be discussed in an “overly pedantic and prudish” way.

Christian Scharpf, Munich’s economics officer and head of the Oktoberfest, told the German Press Agency on Monday that traditional attractions should be handled with “a sense of proportion”. Such debates could quickly give the impression that politicians and the administration were focusing on issues many people did not understand, he said. Scharpf plans to speak with the office for women’s equality after the festival.

Manuel Pretzl, leader of the opposition CSU group on Munich’s city council, was more sharply critical. He told BR that the city office had “completely overshot the mark” with its criticism of the historic Teufelsrad figures.

Debating bare feet and cycling shorts was excessive and risked overshadowing genuinely important issues, Pretzl said. He added that many women had contacted his group saying they felt patronised and did not want to be told what they could wear at the Oktoberfest.

Pretzl and Scharpf said the real problem was upskirting, which they said officials were tackling together with the ride’s operators.

Polaczy told BR on Monday that the discussion about the figures had been “blown out of proportion”.