Surfing in Munich

If you happen to be heading down Prinzregenten Straße towards downtown Munich you will notice, just before you pass the New Museum of Modern Art, a small crowd has gathered on a bridge. You might be surprised to discover that what they are watching, just below, are some of Munich’s most daring surfers.

The main river that runs through Munich is the Isar and it has many off-shoots. One of them, called the Eisbach, which literally means icy brook and gets its name from the frigid temperatures of the water, is where you are always bound to spot a few people trying out their talent as a surfer. You won’t find any Hawaii 5-0 waves here, but where the river shoots out of the tunnel the current is especially strong and creates the perfect conditions needed to “ride a board.” The width of the Eisbach is only about 3 meters, so there is only room for one surfer at a time. The others wait patiently on the sidelines for a wipeout. As soon as that happens the next one up throws his board in the water and jumps on top.

The surfers always wear full body wet suits except in the absolute warmest of weather (the day I took these pictures the temperature was in the mid 90's). Believe it or not, almost all year round you will find someone to watch on the Eisbach. Although the water isn’t deep, it probably only comes up to a grown man’s waist, the sport is still very dangerous. The Eisbach is man-made so it doesn’t have any soft and muddy banks to crash into. It is lined by pure concrete—not necessarily the best combination for a fall at high speeds. In spite of this, serious accidents seem to be a rarity.

About a hundred meters or so down from the surfers is a beautiful artificial damn, complete with a mini waterfall and rock formations. The current here is reduced to a slow pull and in warm weather you will find a lot of swimmers. Although, the term swimming is used very loosely—dipping is more like it. At the bottom of the falls the shallow water rushes with such intensity that it is possible to “water-ski” barefoot for a ways. Unsurprisingly, this is an especially popular spot with the pre-teen set.

The river continues into the English Garden, (but don’t let the quaint name fool you. This is no little backyard flower patch. The English Garden is actually the largest city park in the world and extends for miles from one end of Munich to the other. It gets its name for the layout which is English style or “tamed wild.”) At this point, the river divides two popular sunbathing sections. You will know which side you are on by the amount of – or lack of- clothing that the sun worshipers are wearing. The side closest to downtown is FKK or Frei Korper Kultur, which is for the nudists and the other side is for everyone else. But don’t worry, the rules are not so strict, so if you happen to wander into the wrong area no one is going to scream at you to get dressed (or visa-versa).

If you happen to get hungry while enjoying the water sports, Gino parks his ice-cream cart right between the waterfall and sunbathing sections. He’s got some of the best hazelnut ice-cream in the city.

Article by Anne Alexander Sieder