The Surfgarten project near Hamburg will be constructed on a 60,000 m2 area of land and will cater to present and future surfers in the Hamburg metropolitan region. Surfgarten will construct a full two-hectare Wavegarden Cove surrounded by the usual surf park amenities, surf school, shops, restaurants etc. plus a few unique additions like bouldering, yoga and beach volleyball. Expected completion is 2023.

The section of the city known as Stade was until recently Germany’s energy and chemical producing center. As the country transitioned to sustainable energy, closing Stade’s nuclear power plant in 2003, wind farms began dotting the coastline. Two brothers, Jan and Dirk Podbielski, who worked developing wind farms for the past decade are behind the new surf park.

The brothers started the project in 2016 and signed the contract with Wavegarden in January 2020. Both groups are now are in the joint technical planning phase.

Hamburg’s new wave pool will be appreciated by German surfers. Currently, the closest surf to the city is two hours by car in St Peter Ording. Other popular German surf spots lay isolated off the mainland in the North Sea. Surf along this coast relies on short-period windswell from approaching storms and sessions usually go down in cold, stormy onshore conditions.

The Stade section of Hamburg is eyeing a boost to the local economy from the construction of and employment for the Surfgarten surf park. Sustainability is a major selling point to the design.

“The continued support from the town of Stade and STADE Marketing Tourism, based on the common interest to further develop regional, ecological and sustainable tourism, gives this unique project additional momentum and also enables the local economy to tap into an interesting development potential,” said the press statement released today. “The Surfgarten” powered by Wavegarden will be designed as naturally as possible under the open sky and will offer a surfing experience that will be comparable to surfing in the sea.”

Next to Berlin, Hamburg with two million residents is the second-largest city in Germany. This wave pool will join surf spots being planned for Berlin, Munich and Krefeld (near Dusseldorf), bringing the country’s total wave pool count to four.