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Debate over surfing in German park gets gnarly after city removes wave-creating device
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A man tries out the temporary Eisbach wave in the English Garden in Munich, Germany, Friday Dec. 26, 2025. - photo by Peter Kneffel/dpa via AP
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — A debate over how to bring back surfing in Germany's landmark English Garden escalated on Sunday after city workers removed a beam surreptitiously deployed over Christmas to restore a surfable wave in the river that runs through the park. For years, the site had been a hot spot for surfers and spectators because of the meter-high (three foot-high) wave created by the strong current of the Eisbach river. But the wave disappeared in October after city workers cleared away accumulated sediment, gravel and debris from the riverbed.