The Charlottenburg Canal, or Charlottenburger Verbindungskanal in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

, is a

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 flo ...

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

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 betwe ...

. With a former length of , the canal was built between 1848 and 1859, and originally connected the

River Spree Spree may refer to: Geography * Spree (river), river in Germany Film and television * ''The Spree'', a 1998 American television film directed by Tommy Lee Wallace * ''Spree'' (film), a 2020 American film starring Joe Keery * "Spree" (''Numbers' ...

, in

Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Prussia, it is best known for Charlottenburg Palace, the ...

, with the Berlin-Spandau Ship Canal. The route of canal was north from the River Spree until it passed under the railway bridge carrying the

Ringbahn The Ringbahn (German for circle railway) is a long circle route around Berlin's inner city area, on the Berlin S-Bahn network. Its course is made up of a double-tracked S-Bahn ring and a parallel freight ring. The S-Bahn lines S41 and S42 prov ...

, at which point it turned east along an alignment slightly to the south of that of the more recent

Westhafen Canal The Westhafen Canal, or Westhafenkanal in German, is a canal in Berlin, Germany. The long canal connects with the Westhafen inland port and the Berlin-Spandau Ship Canal at its eastern end, and with the River Spree in Charlottenburg at its wes ...

. After the completion of the latter in 1956, the north–south aligned section of the Charlottenburg Canal was extended to form a right-angled junction with the Westhafen Canal, and the west to east aligned section was closed and filled in. The Berliner Großmarkt or Berlin Wholesale Market now covers the site of this section. The remaining long canal still links the Westhafen Canal with the River Spree and the

Landwehr Canal The Landwehr Canal (german: Landwehrkanal), is a canal parallel to the Spree river in Berlin, Germany, built between 1845 and 1850 to plans by Peter Joseph Lenné. It connects the upper part of the Spree at the eastern harbour () in Friedri ...

. It has no locks. The waterways crossroad at the southern end of the Charlottenburg Canal, where it meets both the River Spree and the Landwehr Canal, is known as ''Spreekreuz''. Adjoining the canal near ''Spreekreuz'' is a police station of the Berlin

Wasserschutzpolizei The ''Wasserschutzpolizei'' (WSP - literally translated "Water Protection Police" in German) is the river police that patrols the waterways, lakes and harbours of Germany around the clock. The WSP are part of the ''Landespolizei'' (State Pol ...

(water police).

References

Canals in Berlin Buildings and structures in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf Buildings and structures in Mitte Federal waterways in Germany Canals opened in 1859 {{Berlin-struct-stub