Strong together: Mayors cycle for better cycling!

Strong together: Mayors cycle for better cycling!

In an impressive campaign to promote climate-friendly mobility, representatives from politics and administration took to the pedals on September 23, 2025. They cycled around 100 kilometers from Kaiserslautern to Heidelberg as part of the European Mobility Week to set an example for sustainable transport solutions. This annual initiative, which has been mobilizing people and communities across Europe since 2002, aims to promote innovative transport and solutions and raise awareness of sustainable mobility.

Part of the cycling group were Manuel Steinbrenner from Kaiserslautern, Alexander Thewalt from the Ludwigshafen city administration and Raoul Schmidt-Lamontain and Christian Ruhland from Heidelberg. Julia Bingser, also from Kaiserslautern, supported the project. However, Diana Pretzell and Ralf Eisenhauer from Mannheim did not join the group to the destination. The route led, among other places, through Bad Dürkheim, where the participants took a break with regional delicacies at the Palatinate Museum of Natural History.

Stations of the bike tour

The tour included several stops where various aspects of cycling infrastructure were discussed. In Kaiserslautern, the new cycle route “from park to park” was presented, while in Ludwigshafen and Mannheim the focus was on the development of rapid cycle connections. A very special highlight was the stop in Heidelberg, where the almost completedGneisenau Bridgewas visited. This bridge is part of the planned north-south axis and is expected to be fully completed by the end of 2025.

Heidelberg can already be proud of remarkable progress in cycling: with a bicycle share of 38% on inner-city routes, the city performs excellently nationwide. Further plans include the largest bicycle parking garage in Baden-Württemberg with 1,600 parking spaces and additional cycle highways. The exchange between the cities is intended to help network the cycling infrastructure across city boundaries and strengthen cycling traffic overall.

European Mobility Week

The European Mobility Week has since developed into a platform that encourages communities to organize creative actions for more environmentally friendly transport. This year the week took place from September 16th to 22nd, and the motto "Mix and Move! - climate-friendly mobile" inspired many cities to explicitly promote sustainability. For example, parking spaces were converted, new footpaths and cycle paths were inaugurated, electric vehicles were tested and climate protection campaigns were carried out.

Every municipality in Germany, regardless of size or population, can take part in the mobility week. Registration was possible until September 22nd, which also allowed those who made a last-minute decision to be integrated into the programs. The national coordination office at the Federal Environment Agency offers support in the form of online seminars and design templates to help municipalities.

Pedestrians and cyclists are happy about these developments and politicians are showing with many such actions that they have a good knack for modern mobility. It remains exciting to see how these initiatives will develop in the future.