ARTICLE FROM THE BOOK:
Cyclists & Cycling Around the World – Creating Liveable
andBikeable
CitiesCyclists& Cycling
Aroundthe World
Edited by Juan Carlos Dextre, Mike Hughes & Lotte Bech
Published by Fondo Editorial, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, 2013
ISBN: 978-612-4146-55-8

Cycling Organisation - Lobbying for cyclists’in Germany
By Burkhard Stork, Managing Director, ADFC and Till Kolja Oppel,
Sports EngineerT

he German Cyclists’ Federation (ADFC) was founded in 1979 in Bremen. Now with135,000 members it is the largest national interest group of cyclists in Europe. It isrepresented in all 16 German states by state associations. District and local associations
exist in over 450 districts and municipalities; in 80 cities, there are offices which advise in all
aspects relating to the bicycle.

The situation in Germany
Germany is geographically located at the centre of Europe and is divided into 16 federal
states. With approximately 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous countryin Europe, with a population density of 229 inhabitants per square kilometre. About 85% of
the German population is distributed over 80 cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants, ofwhich four cities have more than one million inhabitants.
The automotive industry has always been an important economic sector in Germany. In
2008, sales amounted to nearly € 346 billion and provided 747,000 jobs. This high ratingis also reflected in the population. For example, in Germany there are more than 51 million
registered vehicles. 83% of households have at least one car. Germany has built 13,000 km of
motorway and is the only country in Europe with no speed limit on motorways.
However, especially in the urban regions of Germany a change in thinking is taking place.
More and more people are using the bicycle as their means of transport and do without acar. In some cities, the share of cycling in the modal split has increased to more than 39%,
but due to the large regional differences (Wuppertal below 1%) the total share of cycling inGermany lies at 10%.

261

Fig. 1: Cyclists on themotorway at the annual ADFC
rally (Sternfahrt) in Berlin
Photo: ADFC/René Filippek

Fig. 2: Bicycle use and availability in Germany measured
in relation to the total population [cf. Fahrradmonitor
Deutschland 2011]

A representative survey in 2011 in cooperation with the ADFC also indicates that 78%of the respondents have a bicycle available and 50% use it in everyday life (see Fig. 2).
Compared to the 2009 survey there are no significant changes.
Recreational cycling is particularly popular. From this a new branch of tourism hasdeveloped, generating 10% of the total revenue in tourism in Germany with a turnoverof about €10 billion. Holidaying in Germany is popular. Of the 4.9 million German cycle
tourists 86 % prefer to take their holiday in Germany!

The German Cyclists’ Federation
The German Cyclists’ Federation was founded in 1979. On 18 April 1979, it was crowded
at the Tebbe family kitchen table. All those present agreed: something must finally bedone about the rise of the automobile and the decline of the bicycle. But opinions weredivided as to how to implement this project in a country where the prosperous economy
was due to the automobile. A bicycle lobby is needed, a worthy opponent for the ADAC
automobile club. And so those present around the traffic consultant Jan Tebbe foundedthe General Cyclists’ Federation. The association should only endure if 100 members
joined within 2 weeks. 179 members exceeded expectations and the club continued.

262

Cyclists & Cycling Around the World

Fig. 3: Federal Minister of Transport Peter Ramsauer receives the ADFC; f.l.t.r.: Ulrich Syberg(Federal Chairman, ADFC), Peter Ramsauer (Federal Minister of Transport), Ludger Koopmann(Deputy Federal Chairman, ADFC), Burkhard Stork (Federal Managing Director, ADFC)
Photo: BMVBS.

The visions of Jan Tebbe could not be understood by all the members. Often dubbed“Jan flight of fancy” [Jan Höhenflug] because his goal to attract 10,000 members andan office with permanent staff was illusory at a time when meetings must be held inprivate living rooms. On 27 September 1979, it was done: the first national office wasopened in Bremen. Then everything happened very quickly. Just seven years later, thetarget membership was exceeded. 12,800 members joined the club. Still the basis for theenforcement power of the ADFC is a large membership. Through offering a wide rangeof services for the bicycle and abandoning polarising maximum demands it managedto reach the current membership of 135,000 members, which is still rising. The ADFC is abicycle club for everyone.
In order to further improve the political influence of the ADFC it must put more focus
on lobbying. An important step in this direction was completed in 2011, when arepresentative office was opened in the capital Berlin in addition to the national office inBremen. The opening of this office primarily serves to intensify contacts with politiciansand other organizations. In this way, personal contacts can be established and maintained
directly.

ADFC Services
The increasing popularity of cycle tourism in Germany may well be due to the strong
commitment of the ADFC and a decisive criterion for the well-being of cycle tourists isaccommodation. It must offer a good standard of comfort, good nourishment, and a263

Fig. 4: Development in
the number of Bett+Bike
enterprises.
cf. Bett+Bike Deutschlandstorage room for bicycles. From this developed the simple idea of “Bed+Bike”: all hotels,guest houses and pensions can receive the ADFC quality award if they are ready toaccept bicycling guests for just one night. Also they must have a secure storage space
for their bikes, an opportunity for drying wet clothes and equipment, bike tools, maps
and information about the surrounding area, rail and bus connections, and on thenext morning be offered a full breakfast. Currently there are over 5,200 certified ADFC
bicycle-friendly establishments. Thus cyclists today find it increasingly easier to findaccommodation.

“Oh, just for one night?”
The “Bed+Bike” project was initiated by the ADFC in the 90s in response to thecontinuously growing bicycle tourism. The cycle tourism experts active in the national
technical committee “bicycle tourism” had many unpleasant experiences during theirtours. These mainly included the cancellation of accommodation providers, particularly
in holiday regions, when cyclists expressed their wish to stay only one night. In response,in 1995, a list of criteria for cyclist friendly accommodation facilities was developed. The
echo from the trade specialists, the press, and especially in the hospitality industry wasvery positive. This was the starting point for “Bed+Bike” with the following objectives:- Establishment of a Germany-wide network of cycle-friendly accommodation andcatering services with clearly defined minimum requirements- Qualification of accommodation establishments, so they can better meet with thewishes and needs of cycling guests- Promotion of regional and Germany-wide bicycle tourism

264

Cyclists & Cycling Around the WorldFig 6: Annually conference of the 16
representatives from the ADFC state associations
Photo: ADFC

Fig. 5: Cover of „Radwelt“, the exclusive
ADFC members’ magazine
ADFC/Zweiplus

Another home brand has evolved with the ADFC tour portal. Bike routes with a totallength of 300,000 km are stored in a database. The cycle routes are covered andevaluated by trained ADFC scouts and the portal continuously expanded. The cyclists
receive important information about the route, such as route course, quality, and sights
of interest from cycle paths, in order to perfectly plan their trip. Map details or GPS tracks
can be obtained for a small fee. Members have a free kilometre quota.
On evenings or weekends, day or multi-day tours are offered. Nearly 4,000 volunteer ADFC tour
guides were in action in 2011 and made it possible for over 213,000 participants to take a short
break in their own region on a total of almost 18,000 trips . The average length of tours was 56
km. Overall, 12.7 million kilometres were covered by bike in 2011, which corresponds to 302
circumnavigations of the earth. The ADFC is thus the largest tour operator in Germany. ADFC
members can participate at significantly discounted prices in the paid tours.
Another service is the members’ magazine “Radwelt” [Bike World], which appears six times
a year. The professional magazine is available exclusively to members and is characterized
by the wide range of topics. Besides cycling, tour reports, technical matters, consumer
information, and legal advice can be found.

265

The ADFC member will always be offered expert advice. Over the members’ hotline, questions
about planning holidays, buying a bike, to technical bicycle matters and local involvement areanswered. In addition, each member has liability and legal expenses insurance via the ADFC.

The ADFC is facing major challenges. Although almost every household has one or morebicycles available and there are over 30 million daily cyclists, the ADFC has only 135,000members. The largest automobile club in Germany, the German Automobile Association(ADAC) has 18 million members. In addition, ADFC members are on average older than
the total population. The association is lacking in young adults. There are not enoughvolunteers for the active work on the ground, and not enough full-time employees canbe paid. The more members the ADFC gains, the greater the financial strength of theassociation, and the stronger the association’s voice can be heard in society. To recruitmore members the ADFC will significantly expand its service, because service is thecentral argument for recruitment and retention. Membership in the ADFC has to become
more attractive.
Despite everything, service is not the most important task of the ADFC and must not be
operated for its own sake. But only with a large membership organization can the ADFC
reach its goal of promoting the public interest in bicycle traffic and to provide for thefurther prevalence of the bicycle.
Burkhard Stork
Till Kolja Oppel
burkhard.stork@adfc.dekolja.oppel@adfc.de266