Bavaria’s equality offices advise but cannot order changes

Municipal equality offices can recommend changes and raise objections, but they cannot issue orders, BR reported. The issue has come into focus after redesigned female figures were installed on the Teufelsrad amusement ride at Munich’s Oktoberfest.

Most people agree that historical figures at the upcoming Oktoberfest are less urgent than other issues. Anja Berger, a city councillor for the Oktoberfest from the Greens, said the controversy was distracting from important problems such as covert filming, which she said affected women, the festival and equality. Manuel Pretzl, head of the CSU group on the city council, said the response had gone completely too far. Teufelsrad operator Elisabeth Polaczy called the matter overblown.

The controversy began after Polaczy had four female figures decorating her ride redesigned. The move followed a comment from Munich’s municipal equality office, which may have been understood as an instruction. The office had based its position on a city council decision and recommendations from the council’s Commission for Equality for Women. Those recommendations were drawn up after a tour of the Oktoberfest in 2023.

“The Munich equality office for women uses its specialist expertise in gender issues to provide advice, but has no power to issue instructions,” a spokeswoman told BR24.

Under Munich’s municipal charter, the office is tasked with promoting equality between the sexes, advancing women and working against discrimination. It advises residents, employees and city departments. The office reports directly to the mayor and has existed since 1985, with just over seven full-time positions.

In response to questions from BR24, the office said the previous design of the figures played on skirts flying up and the resulting view of their intimate areas. It also said a particularly scantily dressed, barefoot figure intended to depict a Hawaiian woman reproduced a racist stereotype.

More than 100 offices across Bavaria

There are more than 100 equality offices across Bavaria. They are based on Article 3 of Germany’s Basic Law, which requires the state to promote actual equality between women and men and work to eliminate existing disadvantages. Bavaria’s Equality Act requires all administrative districts, rural districts and urban districts to appoint equality officers. This often involves creating a separate equality office within the administration.

The offices have broadly similar responsibilities: raising awareness, issuing recommendations and providing advice. A spokeswoman for the city of Würzburg said the office worked for equality between women and men within the city as an employer and, because it was a municipal body, among the wider population.

Its work includes recruitment procedures, training, information events, holiday childcare, balancing family and work, and supporting people affected by sexual harassment in the workplace.

Amberg’s equality office promotes equal opportunities for everyone through diversity-sensitive and gender-sensitive approaches, a city spokesman said. Within the administration, its work includes implementing the Equality Act, involvement in personnel matters, protection against sexual harassment and advice. For residents, it provides advice, referrals to support services, public information and networking. All consultations are free and confidential.

Dispute over songs in Erlangen

In Erlangen, the city’s equality officer also triggered a heated debate this year. Before the Bergkirchweih festival, she sent organisers a list of 12 songs that the office said trivialised sexualised violence or demeaned women.

The list included explicit rape fantasies, including the phrase “No means yes”.