It’s not a secret anymore-all the best locations for indoor sports in Munich
There are those hardy souls, those diehards, who regardless of the season or the weather will pursue their sport of choice with unyielding determination. Thermal-suited joggers, cyclists with hides of Gortex and soccer players whose granite constitutions render them impervious to the cold can all be glimpsed pushing themselves single-mindedly even in the depths of winter or the most mind-chilling cold spells. Lesser mortals can only admire—or shake their heads in amazement—and turn indoors to seek fitness or recreation in luxurious fitness studios or heated halls. In the winter months, tennis players, beach volleyballers, skaters, golfers and many other athletes practice their skills inside, where it is warm and dry. Regardless of how, why or where you prefer to take your indoor sport, Munich has an astounding array of facilities and venues. Even before Steffi Graf and Boris Becker entered the international stage, the sport was booming in Germany. In the late 1970s, tennis clubs sprang up at an astonishing rate and this helped create the conditions that fostered such future stars as Graf, Becker and Stich—and their success in turn helped drive the tennis craze to even greater heights. The popularity of tennis in Germany has peaked, but the boom years left it as one of the strongest sports in Bavaria, and Munich has a tennis infrastructure considered among the best in the world. “There are over 2,500 clubs with 400,000 members in Bavaria, which makes tennis the sport with the third highest rates of participation after soccer and gymnastics,” says Miriam Rief of the Bayerischer Tennis Verband. The boom years left a legacy of countless indoor tennis halls, including the Tennisclub Ismaning ([089] 96 20 74 24), which has six indoor courts, and the renowned Iphitos Tennis Club ([089] 32 20 90 3; www.iphitos.de), where the annual BMW Open is staged. Sport Scheck ([089] 99 28 74 0; www.sheck-online.de) operates Germany’s largest tennis facilities, near the English Garden, with 14 indoor courts. Other venues include Tennis Halle Unterföhring ([089] 950 42 10) and Sport Raschke in Taufkirchen ([089] 992 87 40). The cost of renting a court ranges from € 15 to € 35, depending on the time and type of court surface. For example, a rebound surface during the day at Sport Scheck costs € 18, while carpet costs € 16. The same courts cost € 31 and € 29 after 5 pm. One alternative to tennis is squash. With a fast, furious pace, squash provides a more intensive workout and has the advantages that it is cheaper and that you don’t have so far to run to retrieve the ball. The first Munich hall was opened in 1973 and was only the sixth to be built in Germany. From the late 1970s until the early 1990s, squash enjoyed its own boom. At its peak, there were more than 6,000 courts scattered throughout the country. “Germany followed the trend experienced in England,” says Peter Koch, director of Squash in Bavaria. “Courts were constructed at a very fast rate. Yet, despite that, it was still often difficult to get a place to play.” Part of the attraction was the combination of sport facilities with a restaurant/bar and sauna amenities, which was unusual at the time, and people flocked to these locations for the lifestyle experience. Today, the number of courts throughout Germany is probably around 4,000. With 32 courts, the Fit Factory RSC ([089] 13 99 13-0; www.beactive.de) near the Hirschgarten, was the largest squash center in Europe when it opened. Today, the number of courts has been reduced to 24, with the remaining space given over to badminton and fitness. A game costs between € 5 and € 12.50 per hour and per person. On Saturday, for example, it costs € 8.50. For people who take their squash more seriously, Squash Insel Taufkirchen ([089] 61 41 62-0; www.squash-insel.de) is definitely the destination of choice. Offering eight courts, Taufkirchen has teams competing in the Bayern- und Bundesliga, as well as a very active internal house league. Courts cost € 15 per hour between 1 pm and 5 pm and € 24 between 5 pm and 8 pm. Other popular venues include Parkclub Nymphenburg ([089] 178 20 55) and Squash Fitness Schwabing ([089] 308 35 16). Koch attributes the decline of squash to the rise of alternative sports. “There had to be a drop off after such incredible growth, but squash is also suffering because it is no longer the ‘in’ sport. Other sports have arisen that have a trendier image.” Heaven’s Gate at Grafinger Strasse 6 ([089] 40 90 88 03; www.kletternmachtspass.de) offers one such hip, new sport—climbing. Opened six years ago by members of IG-Klettern München & Südbayern e.V., the 30-meter-high climbing silo is the second tallest in Europe. The brand of climbing expounded by IG-Klettern is a brash alternative to the traditional style promoted by such organizations as the Alpenverein. Participants can choose between climbing or bouldering. Climbing involves a restraining belt and a rope, while bouldering is done without the aid of either. Both styles have their own proponents, know as “climbing freaks” and “boulder cracks,” the main difference being that boulder cracks restrict themselves to a climbing height of about two meters—preferring to scuttle along rather than up the wall. Thick mats are placed on the ground below to break any falls. “We have been overwhelmed by the interest in climbing,” says Thomas Steffes, a board member of IG-Klettern. “Since opening, our membership has grown to about 720 people, and the halls are often full.” The cost of climbing is € 11.50 per person in the evenings for non-members and € 9.20 during the day. Climbing courses are also available and cost € 70. Climbing equipment—belt (€ 2), rope (€ 4) and special climbing shoes (€ 3)—can be hired at the hall. According to Steffes, participants need only an old T-shirt, a loose-fitting pair of pants and a good mood to enjoy themselves. “We have everyone from kids to people in their seventies, as well as people with physical handicaps, who come down and tackle the 50,000 climbing holds in the hall.” The future of Heaven’s Gate, recently under threat by the closure of the Kunstpark Ost, where it is located, has been secured with the signing of a new three-year lease with the management of the Kultur Fabrik, the latest metamorphosis of Kunstpark Ost. Steffes says that IG-Klettern even plans to erect an outside wall to be used in summer. One sport that has suffered as a result of the changes at Kunstpark Ost is beach volleyball. As the name implies, the game is best played outside on white sands under a warm sun, but beach volleyball fanatics are forced indoors during Munich’s inclement winter. Unfortunately, the management of the popular Munich Beach Club failed to come to an agreement with the proprietors of the Kultur Fabrik and, as a result, the facilities have closed. The only indoor beach volleyball facilities remaining in Munich is Roberto Beach, near the Olympic Park ([089] 32 53 80; www.robertobeach.de). With three indoor sand courts complete with eight-meter-high palms, a Caribbean-style bar and a constant temperature of 28°C, Roberto Beach is one of Munich’s trendiest indoor sport venues. “The closure of the Munich Beach Club was a blow to beach volleyball in Munich. The sport had been increasing in popularity ever since its inclusion in the Atlanta and Sydney Olympic Games, so it was a setback,” says Oliver Dieterle, a press officer of the Bayerischer Volleyball Verband. Still, for the owners of Roberto Beach, business is booming. Many companies in particular, are hiring the facilities for events, and it is often necessary to book one to two weeks in advance. Courts cost € 36 per hour. Inline skaters have also been hit by events at the Kunstpark Ost. Bankruptcy forced skate ’n’ fun, a skaters fun park, to close last year, leaving Rollpalast in Westkreuz ([089] 83 44 549; www.rollpalast.de) as the only inline skating venue in Munich open year round. Open Thursday to Sunday, Rollpalast is a meeting place for both inline and quad skaters and offers everything from recreational skating to dance, fitness and hockey. Admission costs between € 3 and € 5; skate rental is € 3. Skateboarders are served by the euro skate halle at Leopoldstrasse. 250 (www.ag-buhlstrasse.de/skate), which offers street obstacles in a hall environment. Amission costs € 4. Unlike many other indoor sports on offer in Munich, ten-pin bowling is not a sport that has developed into an international trend. The game derives from a popular sport exported to America by Dutch and German immigrants. Modified into ten-pin bowling, the sport was introduced into Germany in 1929 as “Amerikabahn.” Today its popularity as a competitive sport in Germany remains limited in comparison to traditional German Kegeln, yet as a recreational activity, it is extremely popular. Munich has four venues—the Isar, Hollywood, Bavaria and Olympia Bowling halls. The venues report that they could hire their lanes twice over on weekends. Bookings are necessary at least a week in advance. Particularly popular are party evenings staged by a number of the venues, including Hollywood Super Bowling ([089] 75 29 21; www.hollywood-super-bowling.de), which offers Friday Night Bowling parties and Cosmic Bowling nights on Saturday, complete with DJs and bands. Bavaria Bowling in Nymphenburg ([089] 360 48 40), which opened in the late 1960s, is the oldest and smallest hall (ten lanes). The largest is Isar Bowling ([089] 6 92 45 12), with 22 lanes. Games cost as little as € 1.60 at all venues. An entire lane can be hired at www.isarbowling.de for between € 10 and € 21, depending on the day and time. A group of MUNICH FOUND readers attends Olympia Bowling every Friday night for a fun and social evening. Contact Mike at (089) 96 89 12 for details. Badminton, a game developed in India and refined on the estates of the English aristocracy, is offered at most squash venues, including Fit Factory RSC and Squash Insel Taufkirchen. The largest venue is the Badminton Center in Ludwig-Thoma-Strasse. 8, Lohhof ([089] 317 40 70; www.badmintoncenter-lohhof.de), with eight courts. A court costs between € 18 and € 22 for one hour. Mark Twain once claimed that, “Golf is a good walk spoiled,” but adherents of the sport can forget the walk at the City Golf Center ([089] 31 51 60 20; www.citygolfcenter.de), in Schwabing. Open from 6 am to midnight, the City Golf Center provides 16 covered outdoor golf driving shelters and indoor practice facilities. The center is run by PGA professional Martin Horak, who also gives lessons.