The Remswelle project

The wave has an effect – a sustainable one

The Remswelle stands for a sustainable use of the river: local, environmentally aware and community-based.

Sustainable use of the river

The Remswehr could be given a second task. The existing infrastructure can largely be used; a new site on previously undeveloped land would not be needed – the installation would be built into an existing structure. That fundamentally distinguishes a river wave from a wave pool, which needs land, pumps and electricity. The wave itself is created from the energy of the flowing water, without pumps.

Resources and climate

A regional wave makes regular surfing possible without long journeys – after work by bike or suburban train – and is therefore a resource-saving complement to surf trips and to artificially powered wave facilities. The region gains a leisure facility that needs no seasonal opening, no chlorine and no heating.

Sport and health

River surfing is full-body training and balance school – and a sport for many age and ability groups: in Pforzheim all children who can swim are welcome, and the German Championships in Rapid Surfing have their own categories for Masters from 35 and Grandmasters from 45. The wave stands still, so you can practise on it for hours; there is no waiting for the next set as in the sea. What a wave can offer children and young people in particular: → Children and young people

Community

A wave is a meeting place. Anyone who visits the waves in Nuremberg, Hanover or Pforzheim sees spectators, families and cyclists on the bank – not just surfers. The operating clubs there depend on volunteers: in Nuremberg around 60 volunteers look after operation.

Environmental protection you can experience

Anyone who surfs in a river wants clean water. Our Rems clean-up collects litter on the bank and makes visible what otherwise ends up in the Rems unnoticed. The wave creates occasions for environmental education with a real connection to the water – for schools, clubs and families. And because a wave does not need as much water as possible at once but enough water for as long as possible, we take an interest in soils, slopes and floodplains that hold rain. → Clean-up · → What does all this have to do with surfing?

Citizen participation and regional impetus

The Remswelle is a citizens' initiative. It will only come about if many people take part: as supporters, in the club, in talks with the municipality and the authorities. And it gives the Rems valley something that exists nowhere else between Pforzheim and Munich: a reason to come to the river.