There is a new slide in the Therme Erding - the Big Bang.
Its big sister, the Big Wave, is a magnet for visitors in the outdoor area.
Now there is also tire fun under the Galaxy dome.
Erding - It can't be that difficult to set up a water slide.
In the Therme Erding it took almost two years and cost a good two million euros.
That sounds like a lot of effort.
In fact, because the new slide had to fit under the dome, under which a good dozen tubes are already snaking like in a spaghetti pot.
It's almost a miracle that the Wiegand Waterrides company from Starnberg managed to accommodate another ride here - the Big Bang.
The name will be familiar to those who know the thermal baths.
In fact, the big brother of the Bing Bang is the Big Wave on the outdoor area - according to managing director Marcus Maier one of the most popular and fastest tire slides in Erding - with funnel and counter wall, among other things.
The little sister has a similar design, but although it is a size smaller, the slide can sometimes go through the tube with 4G - almost galactic.
But she didn't quite fit under the Galaxy dome.
At one point the roof had to be cut open to literally turn the corner.
And according to the owner Jörg Wund, there was no more room on the floor for the run.
It's a few feet higher now.
Overall, the Big Bang is 130 meters long and weighs almost 37 tons.
The difference in height is almost twelve meters.
180 bathers from the age of ten can plunge into the depths every hour.
But not all of them: Wund and Maier explained at the official commissioning yesterday that the minimum weight is 40 kilos and the maximum weight is 120 kilos.
"And we wrestled with the TÜV for every kilo," reports Maier, who admits "that it wasn't easy to get everything right".
First attempts with dummies have failed.
Stephan Spiller, sales manager of the Starnberg manufacturer, says that the tinkering is no wonder, "because such a slide does not exist off the peg".
With the Big Wave and the Big Bang, two of the only three so-called Big Bang slides in the world are located in Erding.
The next challenge was the operation on the open heart of the slide, because the Galaxy operation should continue as undisturbed as possible.
"We mainly worked at night," Wund and Spiller recall.
And then the entire project was suddenly on the brink: "Our swimming pool technology had reached its limits," admits Wund, immediately smiling and reporting, "that we have expanded it so that we are now building two more slides could become".
Despite the maze of tubes, he has already discovered gaps.
So authorized officer Maier will have to wait until his dream is fulfilled - a second slide dome.
But Wund looks at the lack of staff and energy prices and is very Swabian: "I'm glad we were able to realize it here." To comfort Maier, he can increase the number of luxury chalets in the Galaxy, which despite steep prices during the holidays and at weekends are almost always fully booked.
The construction site has just opened.
In the meantime, Wund is looking very far ahead – to the company succession.
"My son helped with this slide, including the color design," reports the father of the 17-year-old, who is graduating from high school this year.
After that, he wants to study pool management – so he's heading in the right direction.
"We give our children all the freedom they need, just like my father did with me," says Wund, referring to the visionary spa founder Josef Wund.
The third generation is aware of the inheritance they will inherit, says Wund jun.
with a view to the immense responsibility for a wellness empire.
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