Munich surf news

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Munich surf news

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Munich surf news

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Some will say: "Surfing in Munich, is this a joke?" No it is not.

Yes, one can surf right in the middle of Munich. After only a 10 minutes walk from heart of Munich, the Marienplatz, you come to the Haus der Kunst which is on the southern end of the English Garden, the green lung of Munich. This is the place where the Eisbach, a little creek, spring-feed by the Isar, comes to the surface and creates an about 1 meter high, standing wake, the ideal place for surfers.

Uncovered by surfers about 35 year ago and advertised by the word of mouth it became more and more famous and today one can barely find a travel guide which doesn't note the surfers. It's a Munich summer attraction. On a nice summer day crowds of people watch the artistic surfers from the bridge right in front of the surf.

Even though swimming was never officially allowed in the Eisbach it's still tolerated and when, over all the years, every now and then the discussion came up to ban the surfers and the swimmers from the Eisbach, it ended in talk each time, because people in Munich love their Eisbach and the relaxed summer living in the English Garden.

Until this year in spring, when the officials went crazy and announced the future plan for the park: no more swimming, no more surfing, only leashed dogs, no more... But it seems the went to far with all their dont's and the Munich surfers, swimmers, dog-owners and park lovers, also to mention the cyclists, formed the action group -AktionBürgerpark – Englischer Garten- and they fight side by side to ban the bans. And chances are not bad for them to succeed, as they have the peoples and press on their side. Even the CSU, the second largest party in Munich is officially on the peoples side, but its close to an election...

The latest news.

After ongoing discussions the officials say: “Nobody wants to take the fun away, but there are some juristic questions to solve, because if an accident happens the owner of the Eisbach, the Free State of Bavaria, is responsible. But maybe one can solve the problem with the signing of a disclaimer by every surfer”.

Thanks good, no serious surfing accident happened all the years and so there is good hope for the surfers that they can go on.

Until the problem is solved: Swimming is not allowed in the Eisbach but the regulation says nothing about surfing. So, as long as you surf you should be save, you become only a swimmer when you fall of the board...