The wave pool is positioned on the ground floor, of the L&T shopping mall, with plenty of great viewing angles.

Finding a thriving surfing community within a landlocked city is like finding a unicorn. It turns out, though, that in Germany these unicorns are surprisingly less rare than in other parts of the world. Munich, for example, has three popular river surfing spots and a number of surf shops to nurture its unique surf scene.

Now, Osnabrück—a quiet urban community with around 150,000 inhabitants located in the northwest of Germany—is looking to grow a surfing community of its own, despite being situated about 100 miles away from the North Sea.

Unfortunately, Osnabrück lacks any natural river standing waves. So, to solve that problem, wave pool manufacturer Citywave has teamed up with the local L&T shopping mall to create something different. The goal was to install a standing wave in the heart of a commercial zone and videos of the new wave pool have now been posted on Citywave’s Facebook page:

The Citywave Osnabrück wave pool was positioned on the ground floor, of the L&T shopping mall, in the middle of a wide, circular balcony. This means that there are plenty of great angles to watch people surfing on the standing wave.

L&T is a sports-oriented mall, so it was a good place to launch one of the first standing wave pools to be installed in a shopping environment. Speaking about the new wave pool, the crew at L&T said:

The conditions adapt to the skills of the group and, if necessary, a learning bar is installed. In addition, surf instructors are on hand with tips and assistance.
We offer 45-minute surf slots with different wave settings. Whether you're a beginner, advanced or professional, with us, you get your wave.

For a 45-minute session, the prices seem reasonable as well; children between 8 and 14 years pay €29, while adults will be charged €34.

Citywave was founded by Rainer Klimaschewski and Susi Klimaschewski, two European and world freestyle skiing champions. According to the company's website, their wave pools are able to accommodate up to eight surfers simultaneously, though you wouldn't be able to do any performance surfing in a group of this size.

The wave pool technology used is able to generate waves of up to six feet (1.8 meters) and also allows longboarders, SUP riders, bodyboarders, bodysurfers, and kayakers to ride the artificial wave. According to the developers, Citywave Osnabrück produces a wave with an overall width, or wave face, of between 25 and 36 feet (7.5 and 11 meters).

So far the company has installed static wave pools in Munich, St. Gilles Croix de Vie, Zurich, Vienna, and now Osnabrück, but has plans to build more structures in Israel and Russia.

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