We discuss the $(1+1)$-dimensional wave maps equation with values in a compact Riemannian manifold $\mathcal{M}$. Motivated by the Gibbs measure problem, we consider Brownian paths on the manifold $\mathcal{M}$ as initial data. Our main theorem is the probabilistic local well-posedness of the associated initial value problem. The analysis in this setting involves analytic, geometric, and probabilistic aspects. This is joint work with J. Lührmann and G. Staffilani.