The Brandenburg City Canal is a 2.5 mile long canal across the town of Brandenburg, creating a shortcut of a bend of River Havel. It dates back to an early trench, the Jakobsgraben, that was dug in 1321. Throughout the history of the town, the canal was used to ship commercial goods from the river directly to the town's market places.
In the 16th century, a dam was built at the river near the eastern entrance to the canal, to facilitate a water mill. To handle the resulting difference in water level at entrance and end of the canal, a wooden lock was built near the Steintor city gate in 1548. This lock was in use for almost 400 years.
In 1926, a new, metal lock was built, In 1996, a modern upgrade of the lock was finished. Today, due to its limited size, the canal and the lock are used mostly by leisure traffic.
The birds-eye pictures were taken from the top of the nearby Stone Gate Tower. |
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