BicycleCinema.org
CycleCinemaClub open-air pedal-powered screening, 2026 season
Photo: CycleCinemaClub (cyclecinemaclub.at) — via cyclecinemaclub.at

Germany and Austria

Germany has the strongest published engineering record in this corpus, centred on KLAK's ten-trainer, battery-buffered system and the manual that seeded regional Fahrradkinos and Switzerland's VéloKino. Around it sit a commercial supplier, club rental fleets and Berlin's ufaFabrik; Austria adds a separate lineage of converted e-bikes used as generators.

Documented here

KLAK (Solare Zukunft e.V. and UfU e.V., Freiburg) was funded under Germany's National Climate Initiative from 2016 to 2019 and published a full technical manual: ten roller trainers, a LiFePO4 central unit, a 340 W projector, 500 W maximum output, 50–60 W assumed per bike and automatic shutdown after ten minutes without pedalling 1,2,3. The project ended in 2019, but the manual propagated: regional Fahrradkinos now cover demand nationwide and Switzerland's VéloKino builds are direct descendants 2, and Moviemiento, which curated the 2018 KLAK tour, now books its own ten-bike, self-sufficient system in Berlin and Freiburg 4,5,6. A school screening in Karlsruhe in January 2026 needed about 30% of its buffer battery because bikes went unoccupied late in the screening 7,8.

Oekotrainer.de is the commercial equipment layer on the same battery-buffered architecture: eight trainers with per-rider power analyzers, a 1,280 Wh LiFePO4 buffer and a feature that slows film playback automatically when pedalling falls below a set threshold 9,10,11. Its fleets supply municipal events, including Kaiserslautern's first Fahrradkino on 27 May 2026 12 and ADFC Rhein-Neckar's mobile cinema, on record with audiences of up to 200 since mid-2024 and a battery described as bridging the pauses when riders stop to catch their breath 13,14,15.

Two entries use a different power chain. Berlin's ufaFabrik has run a pedal cinema since 2012 with no battery at all: resistance rises automatically on the remaining bikes when a rider steps off, balancing the load in real time across nine bikes whenever a tenth rider swaps out — the third buffering strategy in this corpus after batteries and ultracapacitors 16. Austria's CycleCinemaClub (Vienna, founded 2012) converts e-bikes rather than building generators, using their hub motors as generators to feed a large battery buffer for a frugal 250 W load; its fourteenth touring season opened in 2026 17,18,19,20.

Elsewhere in the world

Sources

  1. [1]Solare Zukunft e.V., Technisches Manual Fahrradkino, 20.12.2018fahrradkino.org
  2. [2]klimaschutz.de (NKI) — KLAK KlimaAktionsKino project pagewww.klimaschutz.de
  3. [3]UfU e.V. — KLAK KLimaAktionsKinowww.ufu.de
  4. [4]Moviemiento — KLAK Fahrradkinowww.moviemiento.org
  5. [5]Moviemiento — Fahrradkino project pagewww.moviemiento.org
  6. [6]Moviemiento — Bicycle cinema (bookable)www.moviemiento.org
  7. [7]Helmholtz-Gymnasium Karlsruhe — Fahrradkino school report (event 12.01.2026)www.helmholtz-karlsruhe.de
  8. [8]Solare Zukunft e.V.www.solarezukunft.org
  9. [9]Oekotrainer — shop/descriptionoekotrainer.de
  10. [10]oekotrainer.de — FAQoekotrainer.de
  11. [11]Oekotrainer Gebrauchsanleitung 5.0, 27 Mar 2024oekotrainer.de
  12. [12]Stadt Kaiserslautern, Pressemitteilung 28.05.2026www.kaiserslautern.de
  13. [13]ADFC Rhein-Neckar — Kino dank Muskelkraftrhein-neckar.adfc.de
  14. [14]Stadt Eberbach — Fahrradkino (ADFC Rhein-Neckar)www.eberbach.de
  15. [15]deutsch-polnische-nachrichten.eu, 22/25.04.2025 (ADFC Schwetzingen)deutsch-polnische-nachrichten.eu
  16. [16]ufaFabrik Berlin — Pedal Power Cinemawww.ufafabrik.de
  17. [17]Die Presse — Kino aus den Wadeln (2017)www.diepresse.com
  18. [18]BIORAMA, 'Fahrradkino: Radeln für den Filmgenuss', 12 Jul 2018www.biorama.eu
  19. [19]CycleCinemaClub — official site (seasons 2024–2026)www.cyclecinemaclub.at
  20. [20]ORF 2 Rund ums Rad, 10.07.2026on.orf.at

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