Eternally Sparkling Elixir of Life: Akiko Stein and the Isar Source

Your path is as long as it is turbulent, as eventful as it is exciting, as sparkling as it is vibrant. "Vibrant" is a magic word for the journey of the Isar water from its source to the Danube and further to the Black Sea. The variety of this route exceeds any travel guide, as this water connects countless places and even peoples in a magical way.
At the beginning, it is pure nature through which the Isar babbles. In the Hinterautal, the untouched valley in the middle of the Karwendel, the water from three springs comes together to flow on as the Isar. It is a tranquil cradle at the foot of the impressive peaks – somehow fitting for Bavaria's fourth largest river, after the Danube, Inn, and Main, which learns to flow in a Tyrolean manner for its first 22 kilometers.
It starts at an elevation of 1,162 meters, and there are many vertical meters that each drop of water must cover before reaching the sea. Here, the Isar is still a wild stream that flows briskly and cheerfully.

There is an ancient dispute between the inhabitants of Scharnitz, to whose municipal area the Hinterautal belongs, and the residents of the municipality of Absam, where the Lafatscherbach originates – above the Halleranger Haus, it heads toward Hinterautal. Where is the true source of the Isar? This is the prize question, the answer to which favors the Hinterautal, partly because the Lafatscherbach does not always carry water. The Isar doesn’t care. Water does not concern itself with existential questions or borders, like those between Tyrol and Bavaria. The Isar also manages to overcome these splendidly to briefly gather in the Sylvenstein Lake before continuing its journey.

Until now, it has been a natural experience. But now, the drops from the source of the Isar will soon embark on a sort of city-and-Europe journey. And at a rapid pace. Bad Tölz is "taken along," then Munich, Freising, or Landshut, in Deggendorf the Isar joins the Danube after 292 kilometers and continues through Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, the Republic of Moldova, and finally Ukraine. Everywhere, no matter what language the invigorating water is named, the source drops leave their marks. Ultimately, they reach the Black Sea, another stop in the eternal cycle. From the Isar source in Hinterautal to the Black Sea, a drop of water takes only three days to travel. Perhaps one or another will return as raindrops to the Karwendel, to rest and mature in the karst limestone for more than ten years, only to spring forth again with renewed vigor.

"The journey of the river is like that of a person. Sometimes the water experiences injuries, its insights are enriched, life is constantly changing, and it is never the same. We can never touch the same water at the same spot of the river. But where the primal spring emerges, the water contains the primal energy", draws Akiko Stein a beautiful parallel and leads back to the origin – the Isar source, which fascinates the native Japanese.

Akiko Stein dedicates her life to water. To the information it contains, the message and healing power that reside within it, as well as the somewhat universal beauty that she understands how to showcase through crystal photography. For this, she fills bowls with water drop by drop and allows it to freeze at minus 25 degrees Celsius. At minus 5 degrees Celsius, she photographs the resulting water crystals at 200 times magnification. Thus, the secrets of water become visible – the crystal shows, for example, whether the water is energy-poor or energy-rich, whether it has been distilled or not, and whether it contains "completely normal" or strong, positive information.

At a peace workshop in Innsbruck, there was a boy from Seefeld. He was excited and wanted Akiko Stein to come to his hometown as well. Thus, one drop led to another – and they made waves. "It was a harmonious, easy development," recalls Akiko Stein. "His mother organized the first children's workshop in Seefeld, then the city organized a lecture. Finally, the idea was born to photograph the water of the Isar spring."

"In this special piece of earth, which is sacred not only to the Bavarians, one does not need great concentration to feel the energy." Whether the path to the Isar spring, which is also referred to as "at the rivers," is traveled on foot or by bike: this pristine Isar bubbling between the moss cushions is the most beautiful reward.

Those who want to make their way to the source of the Isar can do so best by bike. The start of the tour is in Scharnitz at the entrance to the Karwendel valleys. From here, the route leads along beautiful paths to the springs of the Isar in about an hour. Anyone who wishes can continue: just a short distance away is the rustic and sunny Kastenalm.