Munich’s Hells Angels

That’s exactly the image that Body Motorcycle Club (this is their logo) has tried to avoid. Tagged as criminals or trouble makers, the largest biker club in Germany has become very well known with more than 63 chapters in Germany, as well as 42 in Italy, Poland, Canary Islands, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria, Spain, Venezuela and Thailand. It was founded in Mannheim in 1972, but their linkages to the Hells Angels have apparently given the motorcycle club a bad name. Of course like many things in Germany, there is lots of Irony (Speaking of ironic, when I first saw this sign, I thought it was a union logo. Go Teamsters!). For example, the rebellious days of the Hells Angels in the US is long gone. In fact, the only people who can afford a Harley Davidson motorcycle today are yuppies who like to show their rebellious side on the weekends. But in Germany, travel is a way of life. There are three times the numbers of cars in Germany than when you cross the border into France, Switzerland or Austria. And travel anywhere in the world, you are bound to come across a number of Germans on the road – in mobile homes, fast German cars, or even BMW mortorcycles.