Even though many people in Munich and the surrounding area see it primarily as a local recreation area, the Isar is a wild river with considerable dangers in some parts of its course. In the past few weeks, there have been three serious accidents on the Isar near Grünwald alone. Twelve people were in distress and a 46-year-old man died. The city and district have each issued their own regulations governing what people are allowed to do on and near the river – in order to minimize danger and for reasons of nature and environmental protection.
But the best regulation is of no use if nobody knows about it and if it is not enforced. That is why the Grünwald police station carried out a special operation on Saturday, not only to check compliance with the “Regulation governing public use on the Isar in the Munich district”, but also to inform people what is allowed and what is not.
The check took place at the weir near Baierbrunn, where the river forks into the Isarwerkkanal and the wild Isar – the boaters have to get out of their boats there and can be checked. 250 people in 80 rubber dinghies passed by and: according to the police, the majority of the adults had drunk alcohol. The limit on the Isar is 0.5 per mille. 13 people exceeded this limit and were therefore guilty of an administrative offence. The record holder was a 26-year-old man with 1.6 per mille.
Children up to the age of eight must wear a DIN-standard life jacket on the Isar. This was not the case for a three-year-old; his parents had only put water wings on him. The police also found two cases of violations of the glass bottle ban.
In the city of Munich, boating on the Isar is only permitted from the southern city limits to the Thalkirchner Bridge. From there to the Max-Joseph Bridge, there is a general ban on boating.