Berlin’s bicycle culture is a vital element of its urban identity, reflecting the city’s complex interplay between policy, activism, community practices, and individual choices.
Bikegeist is an exhibition that transforms Berlin’s bicycle culture into an interactive digital museum.
Many aspects of bike culture—such as the design of a repair stand, the wear patterns on a bike lane, or the graffiti on a bike-sharing station—are easily overlooked in daily life.
3D scanning brings these details into sharp focus, allowing viewers to explore objects from multiple angles, zoom in on wear and customization, and even “handle” digital replicas in virtual reality.
Enter and explore the 3D models, listen to firsthand accounts from cyclists, and engage with immersive experiences at real-world artifact sites.
Enter the virtual museum exhibit
How to take the guided tour
You can also freely explore the artifacts with your mouse, finger or VR headset – depending upon which device you are using to explore this museum exhibit.
Sandra cycles to the Berlin Art market with her shop inside her cargo bike. In this short film she explains how her bike is central to her lifestyle as an artist in Berlin.
Deutsche Welle journalist, Johanna Rüdiger rides her city bike to reach locations for filming her popular TikTok news reports. She uses her bike to transport her and her mobile video gear to reach iconic city locations quickly and easily.
Antonia Moschin from the Department of Mobility in Berlin discusses a project that is installing public bike repair stations across all neighborhoods, making it easier for cyclists to maintain their bikes on-the-go.
Antonio also shares her personal experience of choosing a bike over a car for commuting and family trips, underlining the convenience and benefits of the growing cycling support in Berlin.
This photo gallery provides a glimpse of the variety of Berlin bike culture
Bike taxi along the Spree 
An athletic coach on his way to traiing session uses a public air pump to keep his bike and equipment topped up 
This Berlin chimney sweep cruises to jobs wearing his traditional uniform and top hat while riding a DIY-customized e-bike. 
A city bike modified by a local musician for pop-up concerts at festivals 
Delivery drivers are in constant motion 
These Berliner’s touring bikes are loaded with camp gear for three-week trip to Vienna 
Rain gear is essential for a bike-centric life 
This chimney sweep travels to work with a custom cargo bike.
VIDEO: The Friedrichstrasse Experiment
Berlin’s iconic Friedrichstrasse became the focus of Germany’s urban mobility debate when, in August 2020, city authorities launched a pioneering experiment: banning cars and prioritizing bicycles and pedestrians on a 500-meter stretch in the heart of the city.
Learn more.
Why is this research important?
Many elements of Berlin’s bike culture—public repair stands, activist bikes, pop-up infrastructure, and street art—are vulnerable to urban change, vandalism, or simple wear and tear.
By combining personal narratives with high-resolution 3D photogrammetry of cycling artifacts—cargo bikes, bike streets, sharepoints, and repair stations—this project curates the urban mobility heritage of Berlin.
3D scanning captures these objects in high detail, creating a durable digital record. Curating these scans into an exhibit ensures that the material culture of Berlin’s cycling scene is preserved for future scholars, policymakers, and the public.
This project highlights the importance of preserving Berlin’s bicycle artifacts as significant cultural markers. Digital curation of these objects in a permananent collection can foster greater public engagement and ongoing discussions around sustainable urban mobility.
3D scanning and digital curation of Berlin’s bike culture artifacts offer a novel way to document, analyze, and communicate the societal role of cycling in the city.
By creating accurate digital replicas of physical objects and spaces—from everyday bikes and repair stands to protest banners and innovative infrastructure—researchers can build a material archive that is both immersive and interactive.
This approach not only preserves at-risk or ephemeral aspects of bike culture but also makes them accessible to a global audience, enabling a deeper understanding of how cycling shapes—and is shaped by—urban life in Berlin.
The anthropological lens
Berlin’s cycling culture runs deep, with an alternative, underground flair that reflects the city’s post-reunification spirit. Berlin has developed over 2,300 km of cycling routes, cargo lanes, and specialized traffic signals. Approximately 18% of all trips in Berlin are now made by bicycle, a share that continues to grow as the city pursues sustainable mobility.
Public bike repair stations bicycle repair stations have been installed in Berlin in late 2024. This web page from the City of Berlin has an interactive map showing their locations.https://www.berlin.de/weniger-dicke-luft/projekte-und-massnahmen/fahrradreparaturstationen
VeloFlow displays for cyclists are being installed at several locations in Berlin. These LED displays will indicate whether they will reach the upcoming traffic light on green or red. The goal is make cycling more relaxed and reduce red light violations. Similar displays have already been successfully installed in Münster.
This video (in German) shows how the VeloFlow system supports cyclists by providing speed recommendations to make optimal use of green light phases. The goal is smoother, safer, and more sustainable cycling in urban areas.
3D-scanned objects are not just for preservation—they are tools for research, teaching, and policy-making. Scholars can analyze material culture in unprecedented detail; educators can use scans in curricula; and advocates can leverage digital exhibits to argue for better cycling infrastructure.
Facts & Trends:
- Material culture studies benefit from precise, measurable 3D data, enabling new forms of analysis and interpretation.
- Educational tools can use 3D models to teach urban history, design, and sustainability.
- Advocacy: Visualizing the state (or absence) of cycling infrastructure can strengthen the case for investment and policy change.
Research question:
What do the material artifacts of cycling in Berlin’s central districts reveal about the city’s contemporary urban culture and social values?
Berlin’s cycling artifacts function as cultural texts, expressing values of sustainability, community, and identity. Artifacts mediate social change—bike-share systems lower barriers, protected intersections shift driver behavior.
Objects + People = Culture
A. Cargo Bikes: Symbols of sustainable family life, revealing class dynamics and gentrification tensions.
B. Public Repair Stations: Artifacts facilitating community DIY ethos and social interaction.
C. Bike-Sharing Docks: Micromobility services normalizing cycling but introducing subcultural distinctions.
D. Signage & Street Design: Fahrradstraßen, bike traffic lights, and tactical urbanism marking contested space.
Conclusion
Creating 3D representations of bike objects is not just about preserving things—it’s about safeguarding the stories, struggles, and innovations that define Berlin’s cycling heritage, ensuring they remain alive and relevant in a rapidly changing city.
Resources for Deeper Learning
Recent scholarship frames cycling as a rich cultural phenomenon, not merely transportation.
A focused peer-review of urban cycling culture (2015–2025) was conducted using key sources from Applied Mobilities, Journal of Transport Geography, Urban Studies, Mobilities, and other academic repositories.
- Hoor, Pauline. “Cycling as a Sign of Distinction: Cultural Meanings of the Bicycle in Berlin.” Applied Mobilities 5, no. 2 (2020): 123–140.
- Boterman, Willem R. “Cargo Bikes and New Inequalities in the City.” Journal of Transport Geography 71 (2018): 1–9.
- Lugo, Adonia E. “Human Infrastructure: Collective Practices of Cycling Activism.” Urban Studies 50, no. 15 (2013): 3153–3171.
- Verstappen, Stefan. “Worlding Cycling Research: Towards an Anthropological Agenda.” Urban Planning and Transport Research 11, no. 4 (2023): 309–326.
- Sogolov, Alexei. “Cycling Cultures in Berlin and Moscow: A Media Analysis.” European Journal of Transport & Infrastructure Research 21, no. 4 (2021): 205–226.
Literature research for 3D curation of cultural objects
- Oruç, P. (2022). “Rethinking Who ‘Keeps’ Heritage: 3D Technology…” – Discusses the role of 3D digitization in preserving at-risk heritage and the ethical, technical, and contextual challenges involved.
- Wahbeh et al. (n.d.). “Image-Based Reality-Capturing and 3D Modelling for the Creation of VR Cycling Simulations” – Demonstrates how high-fidelity 3D urban models can be created for interactive cycling experiences.
- Lombardi (n.d.). “Sustainable 3D Heritage Data: Life Cycle and Impact” – Explores the challenges of digital overproduction, access, and the long-term sustainability of 3D heritage archives.
- Berlin Senate Department for Urban Mobility and Transport – Provides up-to-date information on cycling infrastructure and policy in Berlin.
- Kunstbibliothek, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin: “Cycling! 200 Years of Bicycle Motifs” – Shows how traditional museum exhibits can complement digital preservation by contextualizing bike culture through art and design.
References
- https://www.rotwild.com/en/magazin/the-importance-of-3d-printing-in-bicycle-development
- https://academic.oup.com/grurint/article/71/12/1138/6692637
- https://www.archcalc.cnr.it/indice/PDF34.2/18_Lombardi.pdf
- https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/14/14/3242
- https://github.com/graumannm/Berlin_Bike_CV
- https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/2ced/9a61fec8d07ec8a96f22f20bc3131139fb69.pdf
- https://www.smb.museum/en/exhibitions/detail/cycling-200-years-of-bicycle-motifs-at-the-kunstbibliothek/
- https://www.berlin.de/sen/uvk/en/mobility-and-transport/transport-planning/cycling/
- https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/01JY69WNG3BX7H9SM7XRM3229P/file/01JY6A27F0QYBZDDYW041K9TDZ
- https://unece.org/sites/default/files/2023-03/WHO%20publication%20on%20walking%20and%20cycling-eng.pdf
How was 3D virtual exhibit made?
All research, 3D exhibit design, and films are produced by Robb Montgomery — Visual Media Anthropologist and journalist-filmmaker.
You must be logged in to post a comment.