The Rendsburg Loop (german: Rendsburger Schleife) is an elevated spiral railway in

Rendsburg Rendsburg ( da, Rendsborg, also ''Rensborg'', nds, Rendsborg, also ''Rensborg'') is a town on the River Eider and the Kiel Canal in the central part of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is the capital of the ''Kreis'' (district) of Rendsburg-Ecke ...

in the German state of

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sch ...

, connecting the

Rendsburg High Bridge The Rendsburg High Bridge (german: Rendsburger Hochbrücke, officially ''Eisenbahnhochbrücke Rendsburg'') is a railway viaduct on the Neumünster–Flensburg line that also serves as a transporter bridge. The bridge crosses the Kiel Canal at ...

over the

Kiel Canal The Kiel Canal (german: Nord-Ostsee-Kanal, literally "North- oEast alticSea canal", formerly known as the ) is a long freshwater canal in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. The canal was finished in 1895, but later widened, and links the N ...

on the Neumünster–Flensburg line to

Rendsburg station Rendsburg station is located in the city of Rendsburg in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein and is at the junction of the Neumünster–Flensburg and Rendsburg Kiel lines. It is currently operated by Deutsche Bahn, which classifies it as a ...

Construction

The first bridge built over the original Kiel Canal in the 1890s was a

swing bridge A swing bridge (or swing span bridge) is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravity, about which the swing span (turning span) can then pi ...

. In 1913, with the widening of the canal, this was replaced by the Rendsburg High Bridge with a clearance height of . This met the requirements for bridges across the canal. At the same time, however, it was desirable for trains to be able to use the existing Rendsburg station. This was difficult, because the station was too close to the canal to be connected directly from a bridge over the canal at the minimum height for the bridge. Therefore, at the northern end of the bridge, an elevated railway was built in the form of a loop. Trains from the south to Rendsburg need to make a 360-degree turn before entering the station. Similarly, trains coming from the north after leaving Rendsburg station run over the loop on to the High Bridge to cross the Kiel Canal.

Schleife district

The district of Rendsburg that developed inside and around the loop is named Schleife after the loop. Railway lines in Schleswig-Holstein Buildings and structures in Schleswig-Holstein {{Germany-transport-stub