Editing Elbe (section)

==Navigation==
The Elbe has always been navigable by commercial vessels,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ellmers |first1=Detlev |editor1-last=Brachmann |editor1-first=Hansjürgen |title=Die Rolle der Binnenschiffahrt für die Entwicklung der mittelalterlichen Städte |journal=Monum. Ger. Hist. |date=1991 |volume=4 |issue=425 |pages=137–147 |url=http://www.mgh.de/index.php?recnums=26061&db=opac&printapr=CLASSIC&id=297&wa72ci_url=%2Fcgi-bin%2Fmgh%2Fregsrch.pl |series=Frühgeschichte der europäischen Stadt |trans-title=The role of inland shipping in the development of mediaeval cities |publisher=Akademie Verlag |location=Berlin}}</ref> and provides important trade links as far inland as [[Prague]]. The river is linked by [[canal]]s ([[Elbe Lateral Canal]], [[Elbe-Havel Canal]], [[Mittellandkanal]]) to the industrial areas of Germany and to [[Berlin]]. The [[Elbe-Lübeck Canal]] links the Elbe to the [[Baltic Sea]], as does the [[Kiel Canal]], whose western entrance is near the mouth of the Elbe. The [[Elbe-Weser Shipping Channel]] connects the Elbe with the [[Weser]].

By the [[Treaty of Versailles#International organizations|Treaty of Versailles]] the navigation on the Elbe became subject to the International Commission of the Elbe, seated in Dresden.<ref>The commission was staffed with two representatives of Czechoslovakia and one representative of [[Free State of Anhalt|Anhalt]], [[Belgium]], [[France]], Hamburg, [[Italy]], [[Free State of Prussia|Prussia]], [[Free State of Saxony|Saxony]], and the United Kingdom each, with Czecholosvakia and the German states being those, whose territory was crossed by the Elbe and thus competent for maintaining navigation installations. Cf. ''Der Große Brockhaus: Handbuch des Wissens in zwanzig Bänden'': 21 vols., completely revised ed., Leipzig: F. A. Brockhaus, <sup>15</sup>1928–1935, vol. 5 (1930): Fünfter Band Doc–Ez, article: 'Elbe', pp. 400seqq., here p. 402. No ISBN.</ref> The statute of the commission was signed in Dresden on 22 February 1922.<ref>Text in ''League of Nations Treaty Series'', vol. 26, 220–247.</ref> Following articles 363 and 364 of the Treaty of Versailles, [[Czechoslovakia]] was entitled to lease its own harbour basin, [[Moldauhafen]] in Hamburg. The contract of lease with Germany, and supervised by the [[United Kingdom]], was signed on 14 February 1929, ending in 2028. Since 1993 the Czech Republic holds the former Czechoslovak legal position.

Before Germany was reunited, waterway transport in Western Germany was hindered by the fact that [[inland navigation]] to Hamburg had to pass through the German Democratic Republic. The Elbe-Seitenkanal (Elbe Lateral Canal) was built between the West German section of the Mittellandkanal and the Lower Elbe to restore this connection. When the two nations were reunited, works were begun to improve and restore the original links: the [[Magdeburg Water Bridge]] now allows large barges to cross the Elbe without having to enter the river. The often low water levels of the Elbe no longer hinder navigation to Berlin.<ref>[http://www.noorderSoft.com/indexen.html NoorderSoft Waterways Database]</ref>