MUNICH — “It was gnarly. Dangerous. Only the most experienced could surf it,” says Jakob Netzer of the E1, the ever-churning wave on the Eisbach canal that runs through Munich’s English Garden and is widely known as the Eisbachwelle. Netzer stood recently staring at the spot where the 1.5‑meter (about 4.9 feet) peak once formed below a bridge — a wave that drew local addicts and tourists alike.
In early November, after city engineers finished dredging the two‑kilometer (1.2‑mile) Eisbach side arm of the Isar River, they opened floodgates and found the Eisbachwelle had flattened. What had been a multi‑section summit across three zones became a small whitewater bump in a faster, raging channel.
Netzer, who first surfed the wave at 17 and has ridden both the challenging E1 and the gentler E2 for years, described how the wave’s three sections used to offer different features — bumps on the far side, a smoother middle for carving — requiring experience to read and ride. Fellow surfer Alexander Neumann says engineers have dredged the canal routinely, but this year the work was done with added scrutiny after a surfer drowned on the Eisbachwelle in April. “They wanted to find if there are any danger zones where people could get stuck,” Neumann said. “So they took a bit too much out, which used to still lay on the ground of the wave, and the wave is not forming properly now.”
City spokesperson Susanne Mühlbauer told NPR that Munich regards the Eisbach wave as “a symbol of urban sports and leisure culture” and a unique tourist attraction, and that Munich Tourism hopes it will return quickly.
Hydrology professor Markus Disse of the Technical University of Munich explains that a hydraulic jump — a sudden change in water depth and speed — creates a surfable standing wave on a fast stream like the Eisbach. That requires both a certain flow velocity and an underwater “bump” of sediment. Disse suspects the dredging removed that bump. “They did their job too good,” he said, smiling. To restore the wave he suggested experimenting with discharge (lowering flow briefly and observing effects) and, if needed, reintroducing gravel to recreate the sediment bump.
Munich hired an engineering team from Hamburg to study the canal and attempt restoration. On the banks, Neumann watched the team fasten GPS and sonar gear to a boogie board and deploy it to map water flow and the riverbed profile. Surfers have grown impatient: a week after the wave disappeared a group submerged a wooden ramp where the wave once stood and briefly revived it, but authorities removed the structure as illegal.
Surfing this stretch used to be illegal until a 2010 land swap between the city and Bavaria legalized the activity. The city’s tourism board includes the Eisbachwelle in its marketing, and the site has become integral to Munich’s image.
City officials and the local surfing community continue to work toward a solution to bring the Eisbachwelle back. Esme Nicholson contributed to this report.
