Summary:
Surfers in Munich are attempting to restore an artificial wave on the Eisbach creek that disappeared after authorities dredged the channel last year. The city, concerned about safety following a surfer's death, has requested a new, fixed wave-making structure, but initial efforts to install one have been unsuccessful. The wave had been a popular local attraction for decades, engineered originally by a surfer using a simple metal ramp.
Main Topics Covered:
1. The disappearance of Munich's artificial surfing wave and efforts to restore it.
2. Safety concerns and bureaucratic hurdles from city authorities.
3. The history and cultural significance of the Eisbach wave.
4. The technical challenges in recreating a safe, functional wave.
Surfers in Munich (Yes, Munich) Just Want Their Wave Back
For decades, enthusiasts rode the cresting Eisbach creek in the southern German city, some 200 miles from the nearest coast. But the wave has vanished, prompting arguments about how to restore it.
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Ignoring the winter freeze seeping down from the Alps, two men shed their parkas one recent morning, squirmed into wet suits and walked into a raging creek in downtown Munich. A helper handed them a 20-foot metal bar, which the men shoved underwater.
They were trying to create a wave by installing an obstacle that would bend the churning water to surfable perfection. And they were failing.
Munich, despite sitting some 200 miles from the nearest sea, was an unlikely surf spot until recently. Enthusiasts flocked to the waterway, called the Eisbach, in a park near a university neighborhood, to take turns riding the artificial wave.
But after the authorities dredged the channel last year, the wave vanished.
Now the Munich surfing community — yes, there is such a thing — is trying to remake it.
Nature and bureaucracy have complicated things. The city authorities have urged caution after a death at the creek last year. They want the surfers to install what they see as a safer kind of wave maker — one that is fixed to the creek bed, unlike the old version, which hung from a bridge.
The problem is that the surfers’ efforts to satisfy that demand have not yet made waves: When the men in wet suits jammed the metal bar into the creek bed, the Eisbach’s current kept dislodging it.
Tao Schirrmacher, 43, an industrial designer and the informal leader of the wave resuscitation team, said, “It’s so ridiculous, we could have the wave back in 15 minutes, but we have to go through all this hassle to prove to the city that we can do it safely.”
For more than three decades, the Eisbach wave was a beloved Munich attraction, drawing tens of thousands of visitors a year and spawning imitators in Munich and elsewhere in Europe.
Patrick Ritchie, 63, of Bondi Beach, Australia — a more traditional surfing capital — was visiting the Eisbach during a vacation. “We’re fascinated by this,” he said. “How can you surf in this cold, how can you surf on such a small wave?”
Originally, the wave appeared only occasionally near a century-old bridge in the south of the park, the Englischer Garten. In the early 1990s, a surfer named Walter Strasser tried to engineer a way to summon it on command.
Mr. Strasser said in an interview that he had spent about 300 hours testing different setups in the water before finding a simple, reliable solution. He lowered a long metal board, using ropes and chains, from the bridge into the water. Once in place, the ramp pushed the rushing currents upward to create a steady wave.
“Without the ramp, Munich loses a piece of its soul,” Mr. Strasser, now 67, said in a telephone interview.
Installing a wooden board costs about $1,200, said Mr. Schirrmacher, who financed replacements on several occasions — he compares the outlay to the cost of a ski pass.
Over time, long lines formed on the banks, especially during summer. Surfers would wait to jump on the wave and stay on top for as long as possible before being thrown off, drifting downstream and rejoining the line — a cross between surfing and riding a mechanical bull.
Spectators would gather on the bridge to watch.
Riding the wave became so popular that dedicated surfers lamented the long wait. Some brought floodlights to surf at night; others implored a nearby surf store not to rent boards.
The city, which profited from the visitors, long tolerated the surfers and the ramp, even installing life rings and a list of rules at the water’s edge.
Last spring, however, a surfer drowned after her safety line caught on an obstacle underwater.
The city investigated, even diverting the water for some days, but could not discover the exact cause. Surfers say that the artificial ramp was not in place at the time and that sediment on the creek bed had created the wave that day. The city has never blamed the ramp for the death.
In October, with the investigations complete, city workers cleaned the channel. But the wave disappeared, leaving only churning water.
The city refuses to let surfers install a fresh ramp, citing safety concerns and legal liability.
The mayor of Munich, Dieter Reiter, said that he wanted the surf back but that it had to be done safely. “You wouldn’t believe how important this wave is to Munich, because it’s an expression of an entire lifestyle,” he said in an interview.
Surfers say they are increasingly frustrated. Some revived the wave with an unapproved ramp over Christmas, but the authorities stopped them, threatening fines.
The metal bar test was overseen by Robert Meier-Staude, who, besides being an avid surfer, is a professor of mechanical engineering.
After about an hour trying to keep the bar underwater, Mr. Meier-Staude and the crew gave up. They briefly lowered a strip of wood into the water, temporarily recreating the unauthorized ramp technique. A wave immediately appeared.
“As an engineer,” Mr. Meier-Staude said, “it is frustrating to see that there is a very simple solution but that it is simply not welcomed.”
Christopher F. Schuetze is a reporter for The Times based in Berlin, covering politics, society and culture in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
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