In 2010 the City of Munich bought the land surrounding the wave from the State of Bavaria and agreed to take responsibility for what happened there, legalising the sport.

BBC: Riding the wave of change on Munich��s Eisbach

On September 20th his Social Democrats were thrashed in Bavaria's state election, not even winning 20% of the vote against the conservative Christian Social Union's 60%-plus.

ECONOMIST: Germany's foreign policy

The absurdity of the existing law was on full display recently when Bavaria, a state run by the Christian Social Union, deported to Istanbul a 14-year-old boy convicted of various offences, even though the child had been born and bred in Germany.

ECONOMIST: Turkish Germans?