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Munich’s Isar river ‘being killed by partying’

Excessive partying on the banks of Munich’s idyllic Isar River is having a devastating impact on the environment, nature protection agencies warn.

Munich’s Isar river ‘being killed by partying’
Partying in the Isar. Photo: DPA

“People like to party in Munich – the Isar is beautiful – and the result is we love it to death,” Heinz Sedlmeier from the Association for Protection of Nature and Birds told the Süddeutsche Zeitung.

Sedlmeier made his warning in response to news that a Munich events company plans to hold a Thai-style ‘full moon party’ on the banks of the river on May 21st.

The event has free entry and 7,200 Facebook users have already said they will attend, with a further 54,000 saying they are interested.

The Isar flows through the English Garden, a beautiful 18th-Century park which stretches from the city centre to the northeastern limits of the Bavarian capital.

“Every loving relationship demands mutual respect. Commercial events like this full moon party they’re planning or the huge quantities of rubbish which are left behind do not belong in such a relationship,” Sedlmeier said.

The environmentalist called for the city authorities not to allow any more parties to be held on the river banks.

He added that the areas where barbecues are allowed should be smaller and called for heavy fines to be imposed on people who dump rubbish in the river or its vicinity.

Christian Hiernis from the Munich Nature Association added his weight to the argument, saying that “the Isar cannot become the next party mile.”

Progress made in reviving natural habitats along the river is in danger of being lost, he warned, “ironically because of this very attractiveness.”

Hiernis added that in the summer people pay little attention to where the are stepping, leading to the endangerment of some plant species.

City statistics show that in Summer 2015 authorities removed some 150 tonnes of rubbish from the river banks.

SEE ALSO: New rent map shows cost of life in Munich

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MUNICH

Four injured as WWII bomb explodes near Munich train station

Four people were injured, one of them seriously, when a World War II bomb exploded at a building site near Munich's main train station on Wednesday, emergency services said.

Smoke rises after the WWII bomb exploded on a building site in Munich.
Smoke rises after the WWII bomb exploded on a building site in Munich. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Privat

Construction workers had been drilling into the ground when the bomb exploded, a spokesman for the fire department said in a statement.

The blast was heard several kilometres away and scattered debris hundreds of metres, according to local media reports.

Images showed a plume of smoke rising directly next to the train tracks.

Bavaria interior minister Joachim Herrmann told Bild that the whole area was being searched.

Deutsche Bahn suspended its services on the affected lines in the afternoon.

Although trains started up again from 3pm, the rail operator said there would still be delays and cancellations to long-distance and local travel in the Munich area until evening. 

According to the fire service, the explosion happened near a bridge that must be passed by all trains travelling to or from the station.

The exact cause of the explosion is unclear, police said. So far, there are no indications of a criminal act.

WWII bombs are common in Germany

Some 75 years after the war, Germany remains littered with unexploded ordnance, often uncovered during construction work.

READ ALSO: What you need to know about WWII bomb disposals in Germany

However, most bombs are defused by experts before they explode.

Last year, seven World War II bombs were found on the future location of Tesla’s first European factory, just outside Berlin.

Sizeable bombs were also defused in Cologne and Dortmund last year.

In 2017, the discovery of a 1.4-tonne bomb in Frankfurt prompted the evacuation of 65,000 people — the largest such operation since the end of the war in Europe in 1945.

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