A standing wave in a Munich stream that has been a surfing magnet for more than four decades has vanished, leaving urban surfers high and dry.

Water levels in the Eisbach ("ice brook") dropped last week for annual cleanup work along the streambed.

But when the gates reopened and water began to flow again on Friday, the Eisbach wave did not form as usual.

"We're at a loss," surfer Klaus Rudolf told Stern magazine. "I was standing at the edge with my board on Friday evening and couldn't believe it."

The Eisbach wave in the Englisher Garten park has become a landmark in the Bavarian city since rogue surfers in the 1980s turned it from an occasional natural phenomenon to a permanent surfable presence.

"The city administration is working with the Water Management Office and surfers to find

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