But if you like to find out, we will let you know ....
"Eisbach" is aiming to represent the vast diversity of people who frequent the recreational area of the Englischer Garten in Munich. Surfers, nudists, students, business people, tourists, sports fanatics, drummers, promenaders, horseback riders, cyclists, musicians, tea lovers, all united in ample chillation. BACKGROUND INFORMATION: In the center of Munich, the "Englischer Garten" was inaugurated 1789 - the year of the french revolution. As if some of the sparks from this event carried all the way to Munich, the park today represents a healthy disobedience to authority. It is reflecting the heart of Bavarian culture: "Mia san mia" - "we are [ourselves]" - a healthy tolerance amongst the people. The "Englischer Garten" is the lung of the city, it has 375.000m² of green and holds a number of waterways, making it the 9th largest urban park of the planet. The "Eisbach" basically is the main waterway of the park, fed by the "Isar" (meaning "the wild"). The water is running under the city for some time, lowering its temperature and thus being responsible for its name. The name "Eisbach" today represents the stream gushing from under a bridge (Corneliusbrücke) and flowing on the east of the park (that's not always been the case, earlier it was naming the waterway on the west - today "Schwabinger Bach")...
SURFING: At the "point of entry" the water is flowing downwards and creates a small wave. In 1974 someone was taking a board and started riding the wave... the first urban surfspot on the planet was inaugurated. Since then the "Eisbachwelle" was heavily improved by the surfers... but surfing there has been always illegal. At some stage the authorities simply gave up on it, installed a sign "surfing prohibited" and let them do as they pleased. Only recently the wave got adopted by the City of Munich and its mayor Christian Ude. CHILLAXING: Nobody really cared about the renaming of the "Eisbach" into "Schwabinger Bach" and thus today the word: "let's meet at the Eisbach" still represents the stream passing the nudist area, the Monopteros, "Little Africa", the Veterinary Clinic, Cafe Reitschule, etc. Along the Eisbach you will find:
The revolutionaries of the student protests in 1968 were flocking to the Eisbach, after the protests, dropping their clothes and taking a dip... a(n in)decent part of the sexual revolution of the 60s took part right there. Sparing you details, the area is still frequented by nudists (on the westside of the stream...) - funny enough you will see nakid people on one side of the water and dressed people on the other. Here are students of the nearby Universities, bridging the time between their lectures - there office workers of the "Münchener Rück" insurance company, one of the largest in the world - the wealthy, who live along the "Königinnenstrasse" - ferral alcoholics, getting on and about - Capoeiristas and Jugglers, meeting weekly - Frisbee-addicts, on their daily flights - an almost daily drum circle, another story in itself.... and so on and so forth. You will simply find all kinds of people... representing society, peacefully coexisting next to each other. So... if you didn't know about the Eisbach so far... now you do know a little. Without the Englischer Garten - and the Eisbach - Munich would only be half of what it is today.
