Eisbach

The Eisbach (German for "ice brook") is a small man-made river in Munich. It flows through the park Englischer Garten and is a tributary of the Isar River.

Swimming in the Eisbach is not allowed, but the rule is not enforced, and swimmers can be seen especially on warm summer days. At least two people have drowned in the lower part of the Eisbach, a swimmer in 2003 [ [http://ganz-muenchen.de/freizeitfitness/baden/surfen/wellenreiten/bilder/eisbach01.html (quote by the "Referat für Umwelt und Gesundheit", an agency for environment and health)] (retrieved on 15 September, 2008)] and a non-swimmer, who may have slipped or fallen asleep near the river, in February 2007. [http://www.sueddeutsche.de/muenchen/artikel/784/106678/ Susi Wimmer (22 March, 2007). Grausige Entdeckung. Vermisster Doktorand im Eisbach ertrunken.] "Süddeutsche Zeitung" (retrieved on 15 September, 2008)]

Surfing on the Eisbach

Just past a bridge near the Haus der Kunst art museum, the river forms a standing wave about 1 metre high, which is a popular river surfing spot. The water is cold and shallow (sometimes only 40 cm deep), making it suitable only for experienced surfers and playboaters (whitewater kayakers). The wave is predominately used by surfers, and animosities of surfers towards kayakers (in general not uncommon) have occasionally been reported. [e.g., [http://kajak.at/79/2c858ae9-e398-4cb0-944a-e6f8f705ebd5/index.html 22.02.2008 - jup - Surf-Etiquette an der Eisbach-Welle in München] (German) [http://www.2imagine.net/blogger2004/eisbach.html Surfing the Eisbach] ]

The wave has been surfed by river surfers since 1972, and surfing competitions have even been held. Due to the more recent development of playboating, kayakers have only more recently and so far not in great numbers started to surf the wave.

Authorities are currently (2008) threatening to demolish the wave due to liability problems. Officially, surfing is not allowed, but so far nobody had enforced the rule. The move to end surfing was triggered by the death of a swimmer in 2007, which surfers and kayakers have argued was in no way related to the surf spot: It was a swimmer, the accident occurred about 1 km downriver from the surf spot, no surfer or kayaker has ever drowned, and surfers and kayakers are monitoring themselves that only experienced people surf the wave. The "Referat für Umwelt und Gesundheit" (an agency for environment and health) has written in an informal response to a private inquirer that surfing is not covered by the regional regulation for swimming and boating (Bade- und BootVO of 1976), so that water law does not expressly prohibit surfing; surfing could be seen as admissible public use of a water surface. [ [http://ganz-muenchen.de/freizeitfitness/baden/surfen/wellenreiten/bilder/eisbach01.html Response of the "Referat für Umwelt und Gesundheit" to an inquiry about the legal situation of swimming and surfing in the Eisbach, March 2008, referring to the regulation "Bade und Bootverordnung der Landeshauptstadt München (Bade- und BootV) vom 21.12.1976 (vgl. §1 Abs. 2 Ziffer 2 Bade- und BootVO)"] (retrieved on 15 September, 2008)] As other authorities see the situation differently and have the power to demolish the wave, a group of wave supporters continues to organize activities and a website to save the wave, including an online petition to leave the wave intact. [ [http://www.rettet-die-eisbachwelle.de/eisbach_petitionbook.php online petition on www.rettet-die-eisbachwelle.de] ]

Being a standing wave it can be surfed for as long as one's balance holds, and in busy times a queue of surfers forms on the bank. In the past surfers tied a leash to the bridge to hold onto, but a sign announces that this is both dangerous and forbidden.

The local surfers have forced the wave to break more cleanly, with increased height, by attaching ropes to the bridge which trail submerged planks, creating two large "U"-shapes. Such a shape makes the wave easier to surf for river surfers (playboating makes fewer demands of the wave shape).

A better wave for beginners is up in Floßlände near the Thalkirchen U-Bahn station. It has also been surfed since 1972, and it is wide enough to take a few surfers at a time. A third standing wave in Munich forms on the Isar itself near the bridge Wittelsbacherbrücke, but only at flood levels of the river. Due to the dirt, manure and objects like tree branches drifting in the flood in the first days, this wave is usually surfed only a few days after the water level has risen. [ [http://ganz-muenchen.de/freizeitfitness/baden/surfen/wellenreiten/bilder/eisbach01.html Isar River Surf. die Eisbach Wellenreiter am Haus der Kunst] (retrieved on 15 September, 2008)]

References

External links

* [http://www.rettet-die-eisbachwelle.de/mehr_infos.html website "Save the Eisbach wave"] (German, with [http://www.rettet-die-eisbachwelle.de/eisbach_english.pdf English information] )
* [http://stahlnerv.de/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5&Itemid=27 Bungee river surfing] at the Eisbach by stahlnerv.de
* [http://members.aol.com/AundE/rs_wake.htm Surfen auf der stehenden Welle] (and [http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fmembers.aol.com%2FAundE%2Frs_wake.htm&langpair=de%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=%2Flanguage_tools translation by google] )
* [http://geoimages.berkeley.edu/wwp605/html/MarkusMatern.html Surfing at Eisbach] by Markus Matern
* [http://www.surfxchange.net/spots/munich.html River Wave, Munich] at surfxchange.net
* [http://www.mux.de/Eisbach-Englischer-Garten How to get there? Eisbach English Garden Munich]
* [http://ganz-muenchen.de/freizeitfitness/baden/surfen/wellenreiten/bilder/eisbach01.html Isar River Surf die Eisbach Wellenreiter am Haus der Kunst] at ganz-muenchen.de ( [http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://ganz-muenchen.de/freizeitfitness/baden/surfen/wellenreiten/bilder/eisbach01.html&prev=/search%3Fq%3Deisbach%2Briver%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DG translation by google] )
* [http://www.2imagine.net/blogger2004/eisbach.html Surfing the Eisbach] , on kayaking