561,320 kilometres cycled: STADTRADELN 202 awards ceremony
Caption: Cycling for a better climate: The Waldeck-Frankenberg district honours the winners of the STADTRADELN campaign at a ceremony.
Photo: Waldeck-Frankenberg district
The Waldeck-Frankenberg district has given a positive assessment of this year’s STADTRADELN campaign: with good participation and impressive distances covered, local residents have sent a strong message in support of climate protection and sustainable mobility. The most committed cyclists and local authorities were honoured at a festive awards ceremony.
From 4 to 24 June 2026, a total of 2,376 cyclists in 218 teams pedalled hard. Together, they covered an impressive distance of 561,320 kilometres, thereby avoiding around 92 tonnes of CO2. The campaign, organised by the Climate Alliance, took place for the fifth time with the participation of all 21 towns and parishes in the district. Martha Schweizer from the Building Department, who coordinated the campaign at district level, is delighted with the participants’ commitment: “The friendly competition between them spurs the cyclists on, and the results speak for the campaign. We are delighted that so many took part again this year and switched from cars to bikes.”
The award ceremony recognised the most outstanding achievements. Frankenberg (Eder) was honoured for cycling 90,170 kilometres, whilst Edertal secured the title for municipalities with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants with 58,958 kilometres. The award for the largest team went to the Bad Wildungen Volunteer Fire Brigade, which managed to mobilise 59 members. With an impressive 18,866 kilometres, TSV Eifa 1921 e.V. was the most active cycling team in terms of total kilometres. In the ranking of teams with the most active participants – that is, the highest number of kilometres per person – ‘Die Hartmänner’ took the top spot with an average of 1,681 km per person. In the individual rankings, Fritz Emde (Open Team – Bad Arolsen) with 2,712 km, Joachim Siedler (Open Team – Waldeck) with 2,687 km and Olaf Achterberg (Team Mandern) with 2,665 km were honoured for their outstanding achievements. The town of Volkmarsen received the award for the most cycling-active local council, with 20.30 kilometres per capita.
“The impressive total of over half a million kilometres shows that people in Waldeck-Frankenberg are happy to switch to cycling from time to time and leave their cars at home for their daily journeys,” emphasises First District Councillor Karl-Friedrich Frese. “As a district, it is important to us to continue enabling the public to take part in the scheme in future.” The State of Hesse has announced that it will no longer cover the participation fees from 2027 onwards. The district of Waldeck-Frankenberg is therefore currently planning to include the costs of around 11,500 euros for the district’s participation – including all municipalities within the district – in the 2027 budget. Subject to the approval of the district council, this will ensure that no costs are incurred either by the towns and municipalities or by the participating cyclists. An exact date for STADTRADELN 2027 will be announced in good time.
Background: The cost of taking part in the STADTRADELN campaign is reduced if the Waldeck-Frankenberg district registers all 21 towns and municipalities together. In this case, the district would have to pay 3,560 euros plus 21 × 370 euros (cost per municipality). If the towns and municipalities were to register separately, the larger municipalities with a population of between 10,000 and 49,999 – which includes Korbach, Bad Arolsen, Bad Wildungen and Frankenberg – would pay 1,425 euros. Smaller municipalities with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants would then pay 720 euros to take part. The costs quoted relate to the year 2026. A moderate inflation adjustment has been announced for the coming year.