125 years of the Elbe-Lübeck Canal: History of the picturesque waterway

On 16 June 1900, Kaiser Wilhelm II personally opened the Elbe-Lübeck Canal, which was still called the Elbe-Trave Canal at the time. In bright sunshine and in front of around 1,200 invited guests of honour, the monarch boarded the steamer "Lubeca" at the Kaisertor, which - followed by other ships and boats - sailed to the festival site at the Burgtor. The "Lubeca" cut a ribbon stretched across the water, while fanfares sounded and firecrackers announced the opening of the most modern inland waterway of its time. "May the canal, which you have tackled with indestructible Hanseatic vigour, live up to your expectations in every respect!" wished Kaiser Wilhelm II to those celebrating. The Elbe barge no. 57 then sailed into Lübeck harbour with a load of lignite - everyday life on the canal had begun. The endeavour had cost almost 23 million marks by then.

From the Stecknitz Canal to a modern waterway

The history of the Elbe-Lübeck Canal goes back a long way - to the Middle Ages. Its predecessor, the Stecknitz Canal, was built between Lübeck and Lauenburg between 1391 and 1398 and is considered to be the first real watershed canal in Europe. The Stecknitz Canal consisted of two rivers: the Stecknitz in the north and the Delvenau in the south, which were separated by a ridge in Mölln. These two rivers were connected to form a canal, and from 1398 salt could be transported from Lüneburg to Lübeck for the first time. In the 14th and 15th centuries, up to 50,000 tonnes of salt were shipped along this route every year. This waterway remained in operation for around 500 years until construction of the Elbe-Lübeck Canal began.

A gigantic construction project

When the foundation stone for the new canal was laid on 31 May 1895, it was clear that the project would take on gigantic proportions. At peak times, 3,000 labourers were busy working on the Elbe-Lübeck Canal. They moved a total of 105 million cubic metres of earth, mostly with pickaxes and shovels, lorries and wheelbarrows. And they did it in a very short time. It took just under five years of shovelling, straightening and securing before the canal could be flooded and navigated - over a length of 62 kilometres and with a water depth of 2.50 metres.

Innovative technology for shipping

Lübeck engineer and hydraulic engineering director Peter Rehder was hired to plan and supervise the construction of the canal. He had made a name for himself as an expert on key issues, such as the appropriate size of locks and cross-sections in the canal. The background to this was that the new trade route should enable the large ships on the Elbe, which were already travelling to Hamburg, to also be able to call at Lübeck from there. The largest ship sailing on the Elbe at the time was 79 metres long and 11.60 metres wide.

The locks on the canal work according to the so-called Hotopp principle. They were designed by the hydraulic engineering inspector Friedrich Ludwig August Hotopp. Without any other artificial energy supply, such as electricity or steam power, only the water power of the canal's upper water is used to fill and empty the lock chambers.

Economic upturn for the region

The waterway from Lauenburg to Lübeck quickly proved to be a worthwhile investment. After the Stecknitz Canal no longer met the economic requirements of the age of industrialisation, the new canal helped the port of Lübeck as well as industry and commerce to flourish.

The reason for the renaming from Elbe-Trave Canal to Elbe-Lübeck Canal in 1936 is explained by the chroniclers as Lübeck wanting to stand out. Changing the name in this way is an unusual procedure for inland waterways, because usually only waterway names are combined.

Highlights and challenges

The canal experienced its highest utilisation in 1939, when 2.5 million tonnes of goods were transported on it. The canal again became extremely important - especially for the city of Hamburg - after the end of the Second World War in 1945, when huge quantities of gravel were needed to rebuild Hamburg and had to be transported to the Hanseatic city by ship.

But the boom did not last. In 1999, only 1.1 million tonnes of goods were transported. In that year, 1,600 cargo ships travelled through the canal - most of them were only two-thirds full. The problem was obviously the depth of the water. The so-called Europe ships could not be fully loaded, which made travelling the canal uneconomical.

Attempts at modernisation and standstill

The ships became larger - making the seven locks at the time (six are still in use today) too small. The Lauenburg lock was extended to 115 metres in 2005 at a cost of almost 40 million euros. The harbour company and the Chamber of Industry and Commerce called for the canal to be extended further, the locks to be lengthened and the bridges to be raised. In 2016, 840 million euros were finally reserved for the expansion - but due to the low economic utilisation of the canal, the federal government halted the project in February 2020.

The importance of the Elbe-Lübeck Canal for commercial shipping has been declining for years: in 1968, 17,602 ships carried 2.524 million tonnes of goods here, in 1998 there were 3,160 ships with 1.103 million tonnes, and in 2018 only 1,220 ships with 585,715 tonnes of cargo.

From transport route to leisure paradise

Even if the Elbe-Lübeck Canal is no longer of major economic importance for Lübeck, it is still important for the region. Tourists and locals alike enjoy the picturesque waterway and the wonderful views of meadows, forests and villages. Pleasure craft use the canal for excursions and cyclists jostle along the flat riverside paths.

From a modern waterway to a cosy excursion destination - Kaiser Wilhelm II probably had a different idea back then. Today, around 2,500 cargo ships with a million tonnes of cargo and 5,000 pleasure craft pass through the canal every year. In 2016, a small river cruise ship, the Princess of the Dutch Cruise Line, travelled through the canal from Lauenburg for the first time, with the upper deck having to be cleared for bridge crossings.

Technical data and current utilisation

The Elbe-Lübeck Canal is currently a 61.55 kilometre long Class IV federal waterway from Lauenburg/Elbe at Elbe kilometre 569.23 to Lübeck. The bridge clearance height at normal canal water level is 4.4 metres and is to be increased to 5.25 metres in the next few years. The maximum unloading depth is 2.1 metres. The limiting factor for shipping is the six locks from 11 kilometres before the end of the canal at Lauenburg. The lock chambers can only accommodate ships up to 80 metres in length - with the exception of the Lauenburg lock, which was modernised in 2005 and allows larger ships to pass through at 115 metres in length. In 2019, 1,086 cargo ships with a total of 505,325 tonnes of cargo passed through this lock.

Current challenges

After being closed for eight months, the Elbe-Lübeck Canal has recently reopened to traffic. Although the repairs to the Donnerschleuse lock at kilometre 20.7 of the federal waterway have been completed, additional routine work is still planned during ongoing operations.

This also applies to the nearby Berkenthin lock at kilometre 13.3, for which only brief interruptions to operations are planned in the mornings and evenings. According to the Chamber of Commerce in Lübeck, the previous failure of the canal had led to economic losses running into millions for a number of industries in the region. In the meantime, transport had to be carried out by lorry. Recreational shipping was also affected during the start of the season.