Editing Elbe–Lübeck Canal

{{Short description|Waterway in northern Germany}}
{{Infobox canal
| name        = Elbe–Lübeck Canal
| image       = Elbe–Lübeck Canal.png
| image_size  =
| image_caption = The canal in eastern Schleswig-Holstein
| mapframe    = yes
| mapframe-zoom  = 8
| date_act    =
| date_began  = 1895
| date_use    =
| date_completed   = {{Start date|1900}}
| date_extended    =
| date_closed =
| date_restored   =
| len_ft      = 
| len_in      = 
| original_boat_length_ft    =
| original_boat_length_in    =
| len_note    =
| beam_ft     = 
| beam_in     = 
| original_beam_ft   =
| original_beam_in   =
| beam_note   =
| start_point       = [[Lauenburg]] ([[Elbe]])
| original_start     =
| start_note  =
| end_point         = [[Lübeck]] ([[Trave]])
| original_end       =
| end_note    =
| branch      =
| branch_of   =
| connects_to        =
| locks       = 7
| original_num_locks     =
| lock_note   =
| length_mi   = 40
| original_length_mi =
| length_note =
| elev_ft     =
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| status      =
| navigation_authority         =
| module = 
}}

The '''Elbe–Lübeck Canal''' ({{audio|De-Elbe-Lübeck-Kanal.ogg|German pronunciation}}) (also known as the '''Elbe–Trave Canal''') is an [[canal|artificial waterway]] in eastern [[Schleswig-Holstein]], [[Germany]]. It connects the rivers [[Elbe]] and [[Trave]], creating an inland water route across the [[drainage divide]] from the [[North Sea]] to the [[Baltic Sea]]. The canal includes seven [[Navigation lock|locks]] and runs for a length of {{convert|64|km|mi|0}} between the cities of [[Lübeck]] in the north and [[Lauenburg]] in the south by way of the [[Mölln]] lakes.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|title=Elbe–Trave Canal|encyclopedia=[[Great Soviet Encyclopedia]]|edition=3rd|year=1979|url=http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Elbe-Trave+Canal|access-date=4 October 2016}}</ref> The modern canal was built in the 1890s to replace the [[Stecknitz Canal]], a medieval watercourse linking the same two rivers.<ref name="Britannica">{{Cite web|title=Elbe–Lübeck Canal |first=Michael |last=Clarke |website=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Elbe-Lubeck-Canal |access-date=26 September 2016}}</ref>

==Preceding canal==
The older [[Stecknitz Canal]] had first connected [[Lauenburg]] and [[Lübeck]] on the [[Old Salt Route]] by linking the tiny rivers [[Stecknitz]] (a tributary of the [[Trave]]) and [[Delvenau]] (a tributary of the [[Elbe]]). Built between 1391 and 1398, the Stecknitz Canal was the first European [[summit-level canal]] and one of the earliest artificial waterways in Europe.<ref name="Zumerchik">{{Cite book |title=Seas and Waterways of the World: An Encyclopedia of History, Uses, and Issues |first=John |last=Zumerchik |first2=Steven Laurence |last2=Danver |volume=1 |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |year=2010 |isbn=9781851097111 |pages=118, 121 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IBKoUXrF5p0C&pg=PR132 |access-date=27 May 2016}}</ref> 

==History==
[[File:ETK Damals – erstes Kriegsschiff.jpg|thumb|The [[Imperial German Navy|Imperial German]] [[torpedo boat]] [[SMS S65|S65]] making the first transit of the Elbe–Lübeck Canal by a [[warship]] in 1903]]
After [[German unification]] in the late nineteenth century, there was a burst of canal-building within the new [[German Empire]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=History of Hydraulic Engineering|last=Pohl|first=R|publisher=[[Dresden University of Technology]]|url=https://tu-dresden.de/bu/bauingenieurwesen/cib/ressourcen/dateien/studium/rehabilitationengineering/building_history/History-of-Hydraulic-Engineering-1_Pohl.pdf?lang=en|access-date=17 October 2016|archive-date=12 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170112001502/https://tu-dresden.de/bu/bauingenieurwesen/cib/ressourcen/dateien/studium/rehabilitationengineering/building_history/History-of-Hydraulic-Engineering-1_Pohl.pdf?lang=en|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Stecknitz Canal had been in service for centuries, but newer vessels demanded deeper and wider canals, and modern engineering offered the possibility of rebuilding and enlarging the venerable waterway. In 1893 the German government closed the Stecknitz Canal to barge traffic, and in 1895 construction began on a widened and straightened waterway which includes some of the old canal's watercourse.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Stecknitz Canal |first=Michael |last=Clarke |website=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |url=http://www.britannica.com/topic/Stecknitz-Canal |access-date=27 May 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title=Inland Navigation in Germany|journal=[[The Geographical Journal]]|publisher=[[Royal Geographical Society]]|year=1895|volume=5|page=379|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7bqRAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA379|access-date=28 September 2016}}</ref> The new Elbe–Lübeck Canal was inaugurated by German Emperor [[Wilhelm II]] and opened to shipping traffic in 1900.<ref>{{Cite news|title=ELBE-TRAVE CANAL OPENED.; Kaiser Makes a Speech -- Description of the Undertaking.|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=17 June 1900|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1900/06/17/archives/elbetrave-canal-opened-kaiser-makes-a-speech-description-of-the.html|access-date=4 October 2016}}</ref> Today it continues to carry substantial freight traffic, as well as offering a scenic route for pleasure craft.<ref name="WSA Lauenburg" />

==Technology==
[[File:SlusePram.jpg|thumb|A [[barge]] loaded with [[timber]] in a lock on the Elbe–Lübeck Canal]]
The canal passes through two [[Navigation lock|locks]] ascending from the [[Elbe]] to the canal's highest point and five locks descending from the high point to the [[Trave]]. Each lock was built with an interior length of {{Convert|80|m|ft}} and an interior width of {{Convert|12|m|ft}}.<ref name="WSA Lauenburg">{{Cite web|title=The new Lauenburg lock on the Elbe-Luebeck Canal (ELC) at km 60.15|website=Wasserstraßen- und Schifffahrtsamt Lauenburg|url=http://www.wsa-lauenburg.wsv.de/wasserstrassen/elk/Anlagen/The_new_Lauenburg_lock_English_version.pdf|format=PDF|access-date=10 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170112000857/http://www.wsa-lauenburg.wsv.de/wasserstrassen/elk/Anlagen/The_new_Lauenburg_lock_English_version.pdf|archive-date=12 January 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Commonscat-inline|Elbe-Lübeck Canal}}

{{Authority control}}
{{coord|53|33|N|10|40|E|region:DE-SH_type:waterbody|display=title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elbe-Lubeck Canal}}
[[Category:Hanseatic League]]
[[Category:Canals in Germany]]
[[Category:Transport in Lübeck]]
[[Category:Bodies of water of Schleswig-Holstein]]
[[Category:Federal waterways in Germany]]
[[Category:Canals opened in 1900]]
[[Category:Elbe-Lübeck Canal basin| ]]
[[Category:Port of Lübeck]]