The court ruled that Nextbike’s rental bicycles can no longer be offered on public road space in Berlin, at least for the time being. The decision of the Oberverwaltungsgericht Berlin‑Brandenburg confirms the earlier ruling of the Verwaltungsgericht Berlin, which had rejected the applicant’s urgent request.
The applicant operates a free‑floating bike‑sharing system in Berlin. After the existing contract with the state of Berlin expired, she did not apply for a special use permit. In July 2025 the Senate administration instructed her to cease commercial rental of the bicycles on public road space and to remove the 6 500 rental bikes.
The Oberverwaltungsgericht noted that the sheer number of bikes represented an especially intensive use of public road land and significantly disrupted the general use of the area by other road users. The bikes were often parked or lying on sidewalks, which hindered traffic and underscored the regulatory need for the applicant’s business model. The court stated that its decision is “without contest” (OVG 6 S 114/25).
