Overview
- Late August the Teufelsrad operator Elisabeth Polaczy had three of four roughly 80‑year‑old Pappmaché women overpainted so they show less skin following advice from the city’s Gleichstellungsstelle für Frauen and the Fachstelle für Demokratie.
- Officials said the recommendation responded to rising complaints of upskirting—secret photos or filming under skirts—and to concern that a barefoot, black‑coded 'Hawaiian' figure reinforced a racist stereotype.
- The operator carried out the repainting during her application process for this year’s Wiesn and said she feared exclusion if she refused, while the Referat für Arbeit und Wirtschaft confirmed it consults the equality and democracy offices on decorations.
- The move provoked political criticism from the CSU and voices across the council who called it excessive; Wiesn chief Christian Scharpf has said he will meet the Gleichstellungsstelle after the festival to review the procedure.
- Commentators and victims’ advocates say the change is largely symbolic and distracts from enforcement needs, noting the Teufelsrad already uses signs and cameras and that police and support services record dozens of sexual‑harassment cases on the Wiesn each year.