The Mittelland Canal, also known as the Midland Canal, (german: Mittellandkanal, ) is a major

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface f ...

in central

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

. It forms an important link in the waterway network of that country, providing the principal east-west inland waterway connection. Its significance goes beyond Germany as it links

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

and the

Benelux countries The Benelux Union ( nl, Benelux Unie; french: Union Benelux; lb, Benelux-Unioun), also known as simply Benelux, is a politico- economic union and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighboring states in western Europe ...

with

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

and the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

. At in length,Elwis database WSD Mitte
an
WSD Ost
the Mittelland Canal is the longest artificial waterway in Germany.

Route

The Mittelland Canal branches off the Dortmund-Ems Canal at

Hörstel is a town in the district of Steinfurt, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated near the junction of the Mittellandkanal and the Dortmund-Ems Canal, approx. 10 km east of Rheine. Parts of Hörstel are Riesenbeck, Dreierwald ...

(near

Rheine Rheine () is a city in the district of Steinfurt in Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest city in the district and the location of Rheine Air Base. Geography Rheine is on the river Ems, approx. north of Münster, approx. west of Osnabrück a ...

, at ), runs north along the Teutoburg Forest, past

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

and meets with the Elbe River near

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebu ...

(). Near Magdeburg it connects to the Elbe-Havel Canal, making a continuous shipping route to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

and on to

. At

Minden Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the greatest town between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district (''Kreis'') of Minden-Lübbecke, which is part of the region of De ...

the canal crosses the river

Weser The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports o ...

over two aqueducts (completed in 1914 and 1998, respectively), and near Magdeburg it crosses the Elbe, also with an aqueduct. Connections by side canals exist at

Ibbenbüren Ibbenbüren ( Westphalian: ''Ippenbürn'') is a medium-sized town in the district of Steinfurt, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Ibbenbüren is situated on the Ibbenbürener Aa river, at the northwest end of the Teutoburger forest ...

, Osnabrück, Minden (two canals connecting to the Weser),

-Linden, Hanover-Misburg,

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the ...

and Salzgitter. West of

Wolfsburg Wolfsburg (; Eastphalian: ''Wulfsborg'') is the fifth largest city in the German state of Lower Saxony, located on the river Aller. It lies about east of Hanover and west of Berlin. Wolfsburg is famous as the location of Volkswagen AG's he ...

, the Elbe Lateral Canal branches off, providing a connection to

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

, and (via the Elbe-Lübeck Canal) to the

History

Construction of the Mittelland Canal was started in 1906, starting from Bergeshövede (municipality Hörstel) on the Dortmund-Ems Canal. The section to Minden on the Weser was opened in February 1915 and was initially named ''Ems-Weser-Kanal''. The section from Minden to Hanover was finished in the autumn of 1916. The section to Sehnde and the branch canal to Hildesheim were completed in 1928,

Peine Peine (; Eastphalian: ''Paane'') is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, capital of the district Peine. It is situated on the river Fuhse and the Mittellandkanal, approximately west of Braunschweig, and east of Hanover. History A deed from 11 ...

was reached in 1929, and

Braunschweig Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( , from Low German ''Brunswiek'' , Braunschweig dialect: ''Bronswiek'') is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the ...

in 1933. The final section to Magdeburg was opened in 1938, thus creating a direct link between Western and Eastern Germany. The branch canal to Salzgitter was opened in 1941. The planned canal bridge over the

Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Re ...

, necessary to avoid low water conditions in summer, was not built due to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. After partitioning of Germany following the Second World War, the Mittelland Canal was split between

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 ...

and

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In t ...

, with the border to the east of Wolfsburg. To provide access from the western section of the canal to Hamburg and

Northern Germany Northern Germany (german: link=no, Norddeutschland) is a linguistic, geographic, socio-cultural and historic region in the northern part of Germany which includes the coastal states of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Lower Saxony an ...

, avoiding both East Germany and the Elbe River's sometimes limited navigability, the Elbe Lateral Canal was opened in 1977. After the

reunification of Germany German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

, the importance of the Mittelland Canal as a link from the west to Berlin and the east was reinforced. The project to bridge the Elbe was therefore restarted, and the resulting

Magdeburg Water Bridge The Magdeburg Water Bridge (german: Kanalbrücke Magdeburg) is a large navigable aqueduct in central Germany, located near Magdeburg. The largest canal underbridge in Europe, it spans the river Elbe and directly connects the Mittellandkanal on the ...

opened in 2003, providing a direct link to the Elbe-Havel Canal. There are further plans to connect the channel to the Twentekanaal in the Netherlands to shorten the connection towards the Port of Rotterdam.Euregio: „Verbindung zwischen Mittellandkanal und Twentekanal nicht wirtschaftlich“. Stand: 2013. http://www.euregio.eu/de/pressemitteilungen/verbindung-zwischen-mittellandkanal-und-twentekanal-nicht-wirtschaftlich (retrieved on October 2, 2014).

Towns and cities

* Osnabrück (via a branch) * Bramsche *

Lübbecke Lübbecke (; wep, Lübke) is a town in northeast North Rhine-Westphalia in north Germany. This former county town lies on the northern slopes of the Wiehen Hills (''Wiehengebirge'') and has around 26,000 inhabitants. The town is part of distri ...

* Garbsen *

Hannover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

* Sehnde *

(via a branch) *

* Salzgitter (via a branch) *

* Haldensleben *

Structures

* Minden Aqueduct () *

()

Gallery

Image:Midland canal.jpg, Old and new Mittelland Canal aqueducts near

Image:Wasserstrassenkreuz Minden.jpg, Aerial view of aqueducts and River Weser Image:Mittellandkanal near minden germany.jpg, The canal near Minden Image:Minden_Weser-Mittelland_Kanal_Lock_01.jpg, Mittelland Canal / River Weser Lock at Minden Image:Wolfsburg, Volkswagenwerk -- 2009 -- 0822.jpg, Part of the original Volkswagen plant on the canal

References

{{Authority control Canals in Germany Lübbecke Preußisch Oldendorf Wolfsburg Federal waterways in Germany Transport in Braunschweig Transport in Hanover Canals opened in 1938 CMittelland CMittelland CMittelland