Statements from the 2024 winners

Nordhorn is a real cycling town, hence CITY CYCLING has long been a fixture in our annual calendar. In 2024, we participated in the campaign for what was the eleventh time and were once again able to considerably increase the number of participants and kilometres covered by bike and ultimately also defend our title of the “Most active local parliament”.

It’s important that us politicians not only establish the right framework conditions for the mobility of the future, but that we also set a good example ourselves. Which is why I personally find it especially important to encourage my fellow parliamentarians to also participate in CITY CYCLING. We can serve as role models not only for the people of Nordhorn though, but also for politicians and administrative staff in other municipalities. After all, the mobility transition is an essential part of climate protection that can only be achieved if we all pull together.

And that is exactly why CITY CYCLING is more than just a competition for us here in Nordhorn. Indeed, cycling is a real pleasure. We have treated bikes as equals to motorised traffic in urban and traffic planning for many years now. Travel by bike should be the fast, comfortable, climate-neutral, healthy and thus also preferred alternative to motorised transport on all routes in Nordhorn.

Cycling already has a modal share of over 40 percent here in Nordhorn, but we believe a lot can still be done to improve things even further. Many cycle paths no longer meet the present-day requirements, for example, especially in older residential areas. We want to continue to make investments here in the coming years and to also update our cycling concept extensively.

CITY CYCLING helps us to identify issues with the cycling infrastructure. Because the more people cycle, the more they notice and draw politicians’ and administrative staff’s attention to these issues. CITY CYCLING is better suited than almost any other campaign to motivate people to switch to using their bike. Not just for three weeks in the year, but also in the long term and sustainably. Which is why we very much look forward to continuing to participate in the campaign in the future!

Photo: a|w|sobott

We really celebrate CITY CYCLING here in Rheine!

I’m very proud that we’ve placed first in the category of “Most active municipality” (50,000–99,999 inhabitants) for what is now the third time in a row.

I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate all 3,528 of the cyclists in Rheine, who participated in CITY CYCLING in 2024, on this amazing distinction!

You can be proud of the 703,132 kilometres you cycled for you also made an important contribution to climate protection with this.

Our continued success in the CITY CYCLING campaign is undoubtedly because people of all ages, families, neighbours, work colleagues, kindergartens, clubs and schoolchildren team up to actively pedal for our planet with a great deal of fun and enthusiasm.

Cycling as a sustainable urban concept

Our renewed success in CITY CYCLING also confirms that we’re on the right track when it comes to cycling and that cycling is also seen as a sustainable urban concept.

Local politicians consider cycling important. And the decisive action of the local administration, coupled with a dialogue-oriented citizen participation process, is driving the needs-oriented, long-term reinforcement and promotion of everyday cycling.

It is for this reason that CITY CYCLING has an impact beyond the three-week campaign period here in Rheine, is seen as a contributor to the mobility transition and has established itself as a permanent fixture in the town’s annual calendar of events, celebrations and festivals.

Thus after CITY CYCLING is also before CITY CYCLING in Rheine and we eagerly look forward to celebrating CITY CYCLING together again in 2025!

Photo: Stadt Rheine

I’m very proud that the district of Steinfurt has once again achieved an excellent result in the CITY CYCLING campaign. With around 3 million kilometres cycled, we ranked second in the “Most active municipalities” category and seventh overall in the national ranking. This is an excellent result that we have achieved together with the 24 towns and municipalities in our district. Since all of the municipalities in the district joined forces to run a joint campaign, we’ve ranked first in North Rhine-Westphalia three times and placed third in the national ranking.

I’m delighted that Steinfurt district is at the forefront of cycling in Germany! This result shows the added value that our inter-municipal climate protection network creates. You won’t find a district-wide campaign that involves all 24 towns and municipalities everywhere, hence I’m particularly proud of this.

Our success in the CITY CYCLING competition also highlights the success of our district-wide cycling concept. It enables fast, safe and convenient links for cyclists between the 24 towns and municipalities in our district. With the ‘Triangel’, the first Veloroute in the Steinfurt district, we have launched a concrete project that is also attracting a lot of attention outside the district. This cycle route conveniently links six municipalities in the district of Steinfurt via well-developed cycling infrastructure. Allowing citizens to complete everyday journeys by bike – whether to work, school, shops or in their leisure time – in a healthy and climate-friendly way. And they perhaps also serve as an incentive for people who are not yet participating in CITY CYCLING to do so in the future. The ‘Triangel ‘is the ideal way to achieve the goal of a sustainable mobility transition, hence it was named a TOP 5 project at the 2024 German cycling awards (Deutscher Fahrradpreis).

My heartfelt thanks to the 14,933 cyclists who contributed to this great overall result and helped us to avoid a total of 494 tonnes of CO₂ by using their bikes.

Photo: Steinfurt District

First place for the fifth time in a row – we’re very proud of this achievement and our success naturally also spurs us on to defend our title again next year. We’ll definitely find enough people up for the challenge, too, as CITY CYCLING has since become firmly established in Tuttlingen.

Our successes not only show that the people of Tuttlingen are physically active though, but also that sustainable transport policies that are in keeping with our times are increasingly being established in rural areas. After all, CITY CYCLING is not just a sporting competition, but rather also a statement in favour of bicycles as an everyday mode of transport. The fact that they are becoming increasingly popular also encourages us to further expand our town’s cycling network. We’re on the right track here today – and with the new town hall bridge, we now also have a new central link for our bicycle traffic. Campaigns such as CITY CYCLING provide the necessary publicity and reinforce the transition towards mobility that lends greater weight to alternatives to cars than in the past.

Photo: Town of Tuttlingen

I’m extremely pleased that we in Borken have achieved a fantastic third place in the CITY CYCLING competition for what is now the third time in a row! Our committed citizens showed again in 2024 that Borken is a real cycling town. With an impressive 2,431 participants in 83 teams and a total distance of 455,237 kilometres (more than eleven times around the world!), together we avoided 76 tonnes of CO₂ by using our bikes. This is an outstanding achievement for climate protection – congratulations!

Our renewed success in the CITY CYCLING competition encourages us to continue focusing on expanding our safe and appealing cycling infrastructure. It’s great to see how people of all ages, families, neighbours, clubs, groups of friends, work colleagues, kindergartens and schoolchildren come together to cycle for a climate-friendly coexistence.

We’re particularly keen to get young people interested in sustainable mobility. I’m therefore especially pleased that schools in Borken also took part in the ‘Schulradeln’ cycling campaign for schools in North Rhein-Westphalia in 2024. Keep up the good work!

A big thank you to everyone who contributed to this great success through their participation and commitment. Together we live Borken’s motto of “Fietse first” and make a valuable contribution to a sustainable future.

I’m already looking forward to next year’s campaign: “On your Fietse, get set, go!”

Photo: Town of Borken

Dear participants in the CITY CYCLING campaign,

The municipality of Eschelbronn once again participated in CITY CYCLING with great enthusiasm this year. And we were again able to achieve new record results together: 277 cyclists travelled 75,086 kilometres by bike. This total won us first place in the rural district in the category of most kilometres per inhabitant.

The team spirit and sense of community were very impressive here – as were our results, of course!

Something tangible is happening here in our small Kraichgau community. Topics such as cycling, climate protection, community and competition are bringing together people, who rarely have anything to do with each other otherwise. In times of an increasingly individual society, this is a very pleasing turn of events.

Our local parliamentarians were particularly active again, too: with an average of 376 kilometres per person, they took first place nationally among the most active municipalities. I’m especially pleased with this result and congratulate our local parliament wholeheartedly on their achievement. We’re confident that we’ll be able to further improve on our results in the coming years.

CITY CYCLING has since become established here, which is really great. We were particularly pleased to be able to establish a new cycling club this year, the Club Cyliste 2024 Eschelbronn. Trips and activities are organised all year round for the more than 60 members.  

I wish us all many enjoyable, accident-free kilometres travelled by bike and very much look forward to next year’s CITY CYCLING campaign.

Photo: Niklas Link

The number of kilometres cycled during the three-week CITY CYCLING campaign, which took place from 10 to 30 June in 2024, clearly shows how cycling continues to grow in importance for citizens in the district of Bamberg. Together, the participating cyclists covered 1,163,795 kilometres by bike – that’s 133,464 kilometres more than last year! The 5,787 cyclists in 228 teams came from all 36 municipalities in the district. Children at 22 schools and 52 kindergartens demonstrated particularly outstanding commitment. A big thank you to the 39 members of the Bamberg district council whose active contribution to climate protection means we have once again been able to place first in the national ranking of the “Most active local parliaments” (100,000–499,999 inhabitants).

Next year, the district of Bamberg will celebrate ten years of CITY CYCLING. We’ll mark this important anniversary in our annual events calendar.

Photo:  LRA Bamberg

Continuous improvement from second place last year to first place this year – that’s a great result! I’m delighted that the Hanover region has been able to improve on its result from last year to now rank as the municipality with the most active local parliament (500,000+ inhabitants). People across all political groups from various municipalities in the region demonstrated how we can actively shape the mobility transition. This remains our goal – and our achievements in the CITY CYCLING campaign show that we’re also making good progress in the Hanover region. We work every day to make things even better. The fact that we’ve also placed second in the “Most active municipalities” category shows that the demand is very high. My heartfelt thanks to all those who took part this year. I’m confident that we’ll work hard to defend our title and remain in the lead next year.

Photo: Region Hannover

Dear participants in the CITY CYCLING campaign,

Despite the European and local elections, the European Football Championship and very bad weather, my committed community with its 4,000 inhabitants managed it again: Altshausen took first place in the category of “Most kilometres cycled” (less than 10,000 inhabitants) for the fifth time in a row! As mayor, I would like to express my gratitude and pride at this impressive result: the over 1,100 participants in our local campaign covered a total of more than 253,000 kilometres in three weeks.

This success shows what is possible when we work together as a community. We strengthened the sense of community even further with various activities during our local campaign and managed to motivate lots of people to participate in this way. People of all ages left their cars at home and got on the bikes in their leisure time, while on holiday and to travel to/from work, school, etc. I’m especially pleased about the successful participation of the schools, clubs and companies in the municipality, which were also well represented. A total of 51 teams participated.

The continued popularity among citizens and their commitment have not only led Altshausen to top performances in CITY CYCLING, but also made several bike-friendly projects possible. Among others, the municipality has invested in an e-bike charging station (“Charger Cube”), a pump track for children and young people that is also very popular with adults, and bike service stations. In addition, various cycle rides around Altshausen have been planned and signposts set up for a panoramic circular route to further promote cycling in and around Altshausen.

Climate protection, a sense of community and the fun of collecting kilometres together – all this is lived in Altshausen. Our fifth victory in a row confirms our commitment and at the same time serves as an incentive to continue using our bikes as an environmentally friendly means of transport.

Photo: Michael Epp 

Cycling and a sense of community prevail in Celle! And we owe our success as the best newcomer in the “Most active municipalities” category to them both.

We are by no means newcomers when it comes to cycling though. A great deal has been done in Celle in the past seven years to transform it into a cycling town. A cycling action plan has been drawn up specifically for this purpose for instance. Starting with the necessary infrastructure such as cycle paths, cycle lanes and a total of five uninterrupted routes away from busy roads that allow cyclists to travel all the way from more remote districts to the very centre of town, the necessary tools at the roadside like service stations for smart repairs along the way, public air pumps, a digital counting station, luggage storage facilities along with charging stations for e-bikes, a double-decker bicycle parking facility at the railway station, bike stands everywhere, parking spaces for bikes and scooters at all primary schools in Celle and much, much more.

We’re doing a lot for cycling and, for me, these are simply all things that a family-friendly town should offer. We continuously involved our citizens through surveys for instance and incorporated their ideas and wishes into our planning. The success of our concept can also be seen in awards such as this one.

The people of Celle cycled for all they were worth – not least thanks to the great sense of community that prevails in our town. We worked with stakeholders from the town and district of Celle, such as the district sports association, the district youth welfare service, the town’s sport and youth departments, and collaborated with the integrative children, youth and sports festival, which was celebrated on 5 May, to launch the local CITY CYCLING campaign and get citizens on their bikes even more than they already are for 21 days. And they proved so committed to cycling that we have now been awarded the title of “Best newcomer”. This award is also an incentive for us to focus even more on bicycles and innovative forms of transport in the future that promote this environmentally and climate-friendly mode of transport and help to establish it further in urban society.

Photo: Town of Celle

The market town of Regenstauf took part in the CITY CYCLING campaign organised by Climate Alliance for the first time in 2024. The response was fantastic and the enthusiasm for cycling was tremendous. 750 cyclists and 39 teams took part and cycled a total of 151,387 kilometres. Our results shows that cycling is very important here in Regenstauf. The best thing about CITY CYCLING was that it brought different generations together. People of all ages, cycling enthusiasts and everyday cyclists all took part. And the individual teams could not have been more diverse: schools, kindergartens, clubs, companies, political parties, families, leisure groups, church groups, public institutions, social organisations and even the police were all represented.

The parliamentarians in our market town also supported CITY CYCLING with great joy and enthusiasm. We’re delighted to have won the best newcomer award in the category of most active local parliament (10,000–49,999 inhabitants) thanks to their commitment. It’s important to us that we don’t just consider the topic of cycling for three weeks of the year, but that we constantly remain committed to improving the cycling infrastructure. Continuously expanding the cycle path network, improving road safety and creating better bicycle parking facilities are major concerns for us. Because cycling is good for the body, mind and soul. If car journeys can be avoided in the process, then there are also benefits for the environment and climate as well as for everyone’s quality of life. The market town of Regenstauf wants to support this. Which is why I’d like to thank everyone who took part. Both we and the climate are winners here!

Photo: KAI PAPRITZ

The year 2024 was all about cycling in Altheim – and the results speak for themselves! As a small, nature-loving community located at the foot of the Swabian Alb, the little town of Altheim near Ehingen with its 600 inhabitants is proud to have placed second in the national ranking for the category of “Most active local parliament” (<10,000 inhabitants). We’ve also been honoured with the title of “Best Newcomer” in this category and are the best newcomer community in the Alb-Danube district. This is fantastic proof of the drive and community spirit that prevails not only among our citizens but also among the members of our local parliament – and their competitive spirit most certainly played a role, too!

Though people were initially a little reluctant to get involved in CITY CYCLING, the campaign soon gained momentum. Altheimers both young and old got on their bikes and suddenly it seemed as if the whole community was competing for the title of most active cyclist. From “I’m just going to the bakery in the next village” to “I need just a few more kilometres to take the lead” – CITY CYCLING turned into a real demonstration of strength!

The campaign’s success in 2024 is the result of a clear goal and countless collaborative activities. Our local parliament already resolved back in 2023 to press ahead with expansion of the cycle path network in Altheim and to complete the links to our neighbouring communities. We’re implementing this major project in collaboration with the Alb-Danube district. Things really picked up in spring 2024: there was pedelec training in cooperation with the local traffic association, joint cycle rides and participation in the CITY CYCLING campaign. One highlight of this was the big prize draw for all participating cyclists that took place in July during the local library festival. With the work to extend the cycle path having started in September, we’ve now achieved yet another milestone and brought this year’s cycling season to a pleasant close.

Our municipality is a real eldorado for cyclists – whether they ride a biobike or pedelec. With our e-bike charging station, bicycle parking spaces and a pleasant place to stop off for refreshments at the local sports club, we offer everything cyclists could ever wish for. Altheim near Ehingen (Danube) is not only the starting point for many wonderful cycle rides in the Swabian Alb, but also ideally located for exploring the Hohle Fels caves, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that is just 8 kilometres from Altheim.

Our success shows just how much our community values cycling and is committed to sustainable mobility. Altheim proves that even small communities can achieve great things. We’re already looking forward to next year’s CITY CYCLING – because after all these successes, we’ll certainly be busy collecting kilometres again next year!

A huge thanks to all those who made this possible by getting on their bikes or organising activities. I can only recommend that other communities take part in CITY CYCLING and join us Altheimers in the competition next year! We’ll definitely be back – with lots of fighting spirit and brand-new cycle paths!

Photo: Municipality of Altheim

The district of Celle took part in CITY CYCLING for the first time in 2024. On 5 May we launched this fantastic campaign with a bicycle festival outside Celle castle. The German Bicycle Museum’s mobile museum, countless other bike-related attractions and the arrival of countless cyclists from the district’s participating municipalities set a visible and tangible sign for the start of CITY CYCLING.

As District Administrator, I’m personally very impressed with the enthusiasm with which the campaign has spread through the district and how bicycles have become a symbol of climate protection, community, inclusion and movement. And I’m of course proud of the people from the district of Celle, who came together in 198 teams to cycle a total of 881,351 kilometres. I’m especially pleased with our “Best Newcomer” award, which also recognises this commitment symbolically.

The fact that the district council of the rural district of Celle was also the best newcomer in the “Most active local parliament” category is a clear statement by our parliamentarians in favour of the CITY CYCLING campaign; the district council has thus more than lived up to its role model function.

Many teams in the district passionately cycled their way into our citizens’ hearts. I’d like to take this opportunity to mention the team from Ernestinum Gymnasium Celle that ranked first in Germany in the special ‘Schulradeln’ cycling competition for schools with 159,467 kilometres. Kaiserin-Auguste-Viktoria-Gymnasium in Celle also achieved a very respectable fifth place in ‘Schulradeln’ with 96,074 kilometres.

My special thanks go to the parliamentarians, schoolchildren and all other cycling enthusiasts in the district of Celle today. It is with great pleasure that I accept the two Climate Alliance awards on their behalf. Together, we managed to avoid 146 tonnes of CO₂ and to draw people’s attention to the topic of cycling in the month of May.

I have no doubt that we’ll be back on the start line next year and that in May 2025 it’ll once again be time for CITY CYCLING in the district of Celle!

Photo: District of Celle

Bocholt has once again achieved an impressive second place in this year’s CITY CYCLING competition (50,000–100,000 inhabitants). This success underlines the commitment of the people of our town to environmentally-friendly mobility and active climate protection.

Cycling is truly in the blood of us Bocholters; indeed, it is part of our DNA. The passion for cycling is visible on the streets here and has now even been scientifically proven: the study on the “Bocholt brand” confirms what many of us already knew, namely that bikes are an indispensable part of our Bocholt culture.

Though we did not place first this year, I’m still very proud of our citizens. They showed a great deal of commitment – in groups, as individuals and with their families – and together we avoided a huge amount of CO₂!

What’s more, we still hope to place well again next year! Hence we aren’t simply resting on our laurels, but rather have our sights firmly set on first place in the coming year.

Photo: Town of Bocholt

I’m delighted that the district of Borken was able to place first this year among the municipalities with 100,000 to 499,999 inhabitants! With this sensational result, Westmünsterland has gone one step further and once again demonstrated impressively that it rightly counts among the most cycling-friendly regions in Germany. We can be very proud of this!

Our district has a network of around 1,250 kilometres of cycle paths. This is because cycling is a tradition here – not only for leisure, but also for many other purposes where the switch from car to bike is becoming more and more natural, such as the journey to work. We all contribute to environmental protection in this way and at the same time do something for our own health, too.

The district of Borken has participated in the CITY CYCLING campaign with many of the towns and municipalities in the district since 2017. We’ve managed to increase the total kilometres covered every single year. In 2024, 16 of the 17 municipalities in our district participated in CITY CYCLING. Not least thanks to this fantastic cooperation, we were once again able to break our own record from last year: In 2024, a total of 16,574 cyclists in 914 teams travelled an incredible 3,274,211 kilometres by bike.

My heartfelt thanks to all of the cyclists from the district of Borken who got involved. I’d also like to thank the CITY CYCLING team for once again implementing an excellent national campaign. I’m already very much looking forward to CITY CYCLING in 2025 when we’re determined to defend our title!

Photo: District of Borken

Short distances, flat terrain, green routes and plenty to explore – it really is no surprise that Bremen is so popular with cyclists! This year, our Hanseatic city ranked third among the most bicycle-friendly cities in Europe. We’re therefore all the more delighted to be named “Best Newcomer” in the CITY CYCLING categories of “Most active municipality” and “Most active local parliament”. We had a very successful start in our community!

Photo: Pepe Lange

Third place in the national ranking of the “Most active local parliaments” in CITY CYCLING 2024 is a great result that reflects the outstanding motivation and commitment of local political representatives. Bicycles are an important means of transport here in the district of Emmendingen that not only contributes to climate and environmental protection, but also helps to improve citizens’ health. This is the sixth time that the district has taken part in the CITY CYCLING campaign and we once again achieved impressive results: a total of more than 5,300 people took part and cycled over one million kilometres!

Our good national ranking will serve as an incentive for us to continue improving climate-friendly mobility. Hence I’m already very much looking forward to CITY CYCLING in 2025.

Photo: Landratsamt Emmendingen

Anyone who has ever been to Wesel appreciates the wonderful opportunities to explore the town and its surroundings by bike. Wesel lives up to its award-winning reputation as a bicycle-friendly municipality. It is therefore only fitting that the members of our town council serve as role models and also cycle in our Hanseatic city beside the Rhine. Anyone who would like to see the good infrastructure and scenery of the Lower Rhine for themselves is cordially invited to come to Wesel. With your bike, of course!

Photo: Town of Wesel

Bamberg is a real cycling city, that’s fair to say. We’ve once again managed to defend our third place among all German municipalities with between 50,000 and 99,000 inhabitants. But that’s not all. Thanks to the many committed cyclists, we’ve even improved on last year’s record result: In 2024, almost 3,000 people participated in CITY CYCLING and 141 teams were active in Bamberg. Together, they collected almost 600,000 kilometres during the local campaign. That’s more than ever before!

This result spurs us on as a municipality to continue taking part in CITY CYCLING. Cycling deserves this advertising. And we make sure that getting around on two wheels in our World Heritage town is increasingly appealing. With this in mind, we continue to work on expanding the cycling infrastructure. To give just one example: this year, we implemented a major green arrow campaign to improve road safety. A total of 75 green arrows were installed at traffic lights, mostly in the town centre. That’s not all though: 50 more arrows are to be added very soon.

I’d like to thank everyone who contributes to the great success of CITY CYCLING every year. And I’m already looking forward to the 2025 competition in the cycling town of Bamberg.

Photo: Town of Bamberg, Sonja Seufferth

Forst (Lausitz), the town of roses, took part in CITY CYCLING for the first time this year and we’re delighted to receive the “Best Newcomer” award for our population group.

Forst (Lausitz) has always been a town of cyclists, but thanks to this communal competition, participants have once again been able to experience the beauty of our town and its surroundings by bike.

Besides the positive impact on the environment and urban climate, we’re delighted with the group dynamics that accompanied this competition.

Whether daycare centres, schools, businesses, districts or clubs, the town’s citizens came a little closer together again, organised themselves into teams and pedalled to achieve a common goal.

We intend to take part in CITY CYCLING again next year and to continue to promote cycling.

Photo: Town of Forst (Lausitz)

Thousands of people from Leer once again took part in the CITY CYCLING competition with great enthusiasm this year – after all, this competition has since become a fixture in our town’s event calendar.

3,069 people in 108 teams covered an impressive 531,995 kilometres by bike, allowing us to rank second among the municipalities with 10,000 to 49,999 inhabitants. We even placed first among the municipalities in our population group in Lower Saxony! So much commitment makes me proud, as it shows that our citizens not only care about their town, but also about the environment in general.

After all, we were able to avoid 88 tonnes of CO₂! The statistics become even more impressive if you consider that one tonne of CO₂ equates to about 4,900 km travelled in a mid-range car (roughly the distance from Berlin to Madrid).

The team from Teletta-Groß-Gymnasium with 455 participants was the most successful team, covering 54,073 kilometres. And there was so much enthusiasm among the staff of the town hall that there were even a few private “duels” between colleagues for which short diversions were made on the way home in the evening to collect a few extra kilometres.

CITY CYCLING is always a special time for me, too. On the one hand, because I cycle more during the campaign than I usually do in my everyday work life and I simply feel fitter. But also because I get to speak with citizens even more, as people can wave me down and I can simply stop off briefly for a chat. So there aren’t just benefits for the climate, but also on several other levels, too ...

The great interest of the people of Leer encourages us in our commitment to an even better cycling infrastructure, which we have gradually expanded over the years with a wide variety of measures through our FaCit project (“Mit dem Fahrrad in die City”).

I’m already looking forward to CITY CYCLING in 2025 and wish all cyclists a safe and accident-free journey until then!

Photo:　Town of Leer

With record participation of over 18,500 committed cyclists and more than 3.4 million kilometres cycled, our citizens have once again shown how important a sustainable, climate-friendly everyday life is to them. This outstanding achievement allowed us to avoid 567 tonnes of CO₂ here in Munich – an important step for climate protection and quality of life in our city.

I see this commitment as a mandate to push ahead with the expansion of safe cycle paths. We also want to make cycling a safe and natural option for children and older people.

My thanks go to everyone who got on their bikes – from the enthusiastic individuals to the many teams who took part. This strong showing reminds that bicycles are not just a practical means of transport, but also an indispensable part of mobility here in Munich.

Photo: Michael Nagy / Landeshauptstadt München Presseamt

The story of CITY CYCLING and Hagen im Bremischen is a truly successful one!

After being named “Best Newcomer” and placing second in the “Most active local parliament” category among the municipalities with 10,000–49,999 inhabitants in 2023, we managed to inspire many more cyclists to join the Climate Alliance campaign this year.

In 2024, 442 participants covered an impressive 96,809 kilometres by bike in 45 teams during the three-week local campaign. By way of comparison: last year, 376 participants cycled 75,030 kilometres in 30 teams. In total, we were able to avoid 16 tonnes of CO₂ and did something together for nature and the environment, too.

I’m particularly pleased that all 29 local politicians took part in this year’s CITY CYCLING and actively pedalled for climate protection. With a total of 6,214 kilometres covered and an average of 214.27 kilometres per parliamentarian, we were able to achieve a sensational first place in the “Most active local parliament” category.

Hagen im Bremischen will definitely be back for CITY CYCLING 2025!

Photo: Martina Buchholz

In our ninth CITY CYCLING season, there were even more participants and they cycled even more kilometres. For the first time, our parliamentarians achieved third place in the “Most active local parliament” category in our population group. CITY CYCLING encourages the people of Cologne to get to know our city from a different perspective and motivates them to switch to using their bikes. As such, we’ve once again covered a great deal of ground on the road to climate neutrality.

Photo: Jens Koch

For our rural district and all municipalities participating in CITY CYCLING, taking part in this cycling campaign time and time again is a given – if only because it is above all associated with a great deal of fun and a strong sense of community spirit. It is also for these reasons that we’re already very much looking forward to next year when we want to have a strong showing again. We were well represented this year, hence we were once more able to stand on the podium. I’m very pleased about this and would like to thank all of the diligent cyclists, who contribute to our success year after year.

Our renewed high ranking is the result of a successful communal project and at the same time an acknowledgement and incentive for us to all get involved in CITY CYCLING again in the future. And to continue on the path to improving the local cycling infrastructure that our municipal family is pursuing together.

Our local authorities are doing an excellent job in this respect, too, and actively remaining on the ball despite tight budgets and rising costs for the expansion of our cycle paths. Our rural district is aware of its responsibility in the sustainable improvement of cycle paths and their linkage and will continue to meet this responsibility as far as possible with great commitment and enthusiasm – also beyond the boundaries of the rural district.

Projects such as our concept for a supra-regional cycle path network with the associated funding for the municipalities, our commitment to the construction of several bicycle highways and the introduction of buses with bike carriers not only make it easier to switch to cycling and boost the appeal of our cycling infrastructure in the region, but also demonstrate the variety of aspects that have been addressed in recent years and the tasks that we still need to tackle.

The following consequently applies to the municipalities in our region and our rural district, which has been named a “bicycle-friendly rural district”: We shall maintain our shared commitment and consistently emphasise the many benefits of cycling for us all as well as for every individual. In this way, we’ll not only help to protect our climate and environment, but also promote our own health so that we can remain fit and healthy into old age.

CITY CYCLING certainly complements our commitment very nicely and lends a particularly positive public image to the joy of cycling and especially to cycling as a communal experience! With this in mind, I look forward to another fair sporting competition between the cycling enthusiasts in the municipalities in the coming campaign year, with countless more enthusiastic participants.

Photo: Björn Friedrich