The Gliwice Canal ( pl, Kanał Gliwicki, german: Gleiwitzer Kanal) 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 flow un ...

connecting the Oder (Odra) River to the city of

Gliwice Gliwice (; german: Gleiwitz) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. The city is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Kłodnica river (a tributary of the Oder). It lies approximately 25 km west from Katowice, the regional cap ...

in the

Silesian Voivodeship Silesian Voivodeship, or Silesia Province ( pl, województwo śląskie ) is a voivodeship, or province, in southern Poland, centered on the historic region known as Upper Silesia ('), with Katowice serving as its capital. Despite the Silesian ...

(

Upper Silesian Industrial Region The Upper Silesian Industrial Region ( pl, Górnośląski Okręg Przemysłowy, , Polish abbreviation: ''GOP'' ; german: Oberschlesisches Industriegebiet) is a large industrial region in Poland.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 populous ...

. Also known as the Upper Silesian Canal (''Kanał Górnośląski'', ''Oberschlesischer Kanal''), it was built from 1935 to 1939 and replaced the Kłodnicki Canal.

Structure

The canal starts at the port of Gliwice and descends to

Kędzierzyn-Koźle Kędzierzyn-Koźle (german: Kandrzin-Cosel, szl, Kandrzin-Koźle) is a city in southern Poland, the administrative center of Kędzierzyn-Koźle County. With 58,899 inhabitants as of 2021, it is the second most-populous city in the Opole Voivodes ...

on the Oder. The canal passes through

Opole Voivodeship Opole Voivodeship, or Opole Province ( pl, województwo opolskie ), is the smallest and least populated voivodeship (province) of Poland. The province's name derives from that of the region's capital and largest city, Opole. It is part of Upper S ...

and

in Poland. The canal is approximately long; its maximum depth is ; canal width is ; the maximum allowed speed for ships on the canal is ; and the difference in the height of the water levels at its ends is . It has six

locks Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

. The canal is accessible from 15 March to 15 December (270 days a year). Locks: # in Łabędy district of Gliwice # in Dzierżno district of

Pyskowice Pyskowice (german: Peiskretscham) is a town in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. Borders on the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union – metropolis with the population of 2 million. Located in the Silesian Highlands. It is situated in t ...

# in

Rudziniec Rudziniec (german: Rudzinitz, 1936-1945: Rudgershagen) is a village in Gliwice County, Silesian Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Rudziniec. It lies approximately north-west of Gli ...

village # in Sławięcice district of

# in Nowa Wieś village # in

Kłodnica Kłodnica () is a river in the Upper Silesia region. It is about 75 km long and a right tributary of the Odra river. Along Kłodnica's shore are Polish cities of Katowice, Kędzierzyn-Koźle, Ruda Śląska, Gliwice, and Zabrze. There ...

district of

The water in the canal comes from the

River as well as lakes and reservoirs such as Dzierżno Duże and Dzierżno Małe.

History

The Gliwice Canal was originally built in the

Province of Upper Silesia The Province of Upper Silesia (german: Provinz Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ''Provinz Oberschläsing''; szl, Prowincyjŏ Gōrny Ślōnsk; pl, Prowincja Górny Śląsk) was a province of the Free State of Prussia from 1919 to 1945. It comprise ...

within

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 ...

. Because the Klodnitz (Kłodnicki) Canal had become obsolete, it was decided in 1934 that construction of a new canal was more feasible than modernization of the older Klodnitz Canal, which closed in 1937. The new canal, known as the Gleiwitz Canal (german: Gleiwitzer Kanal), was built from 1935-1939 and opened for service in 1941. On 8 December 1939, it was renamed the Adolf Hitler Canal (''Adolf-Hitler-Kanal''), in honor of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

, during the inauguration ceremony by

Rudolf Hess Rudolf Walter Richard Hess (Heß in German; 26 April 1894 – 17 August 1987) was a German politician and a leading member of the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Appointed Deputy Führer to Adolf Hitler in 1933, Hess held that position unt ...

. There were also plans to make it a part of the Danube-Oder-Canal project. After

World War II 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 opposin ...

, the canal and the surrounding territories (see

Regained Territories The Recovered Territories or Regained Lands ( pl, Ziemie Odzyskane), also known as Western Borderlands ( pl, Kresy Zachodnie), and previously as Western and Northern Territories ( pl, Ziemie Zachodnie i Północne), Postulated Territories ( pl, Z ...

) were placed under Polish administration according to the 1945

Potsdam Conference The Potsdam Conference (german: Potsdamer Konferenz) was held at Potsdam in the Soviet occupation zone from July 17 to August 2, 1945, to allow the three leading Allies to plan the postwar peace, while avoiding the mistakes of the Paris Pe ...

. About fifty people are employed in maintaining the canal. About 700 000

tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...

s
''pszczyna.naszemiasto.pl'' of material are shipped each year through the canal (mostly

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

). The Polish government is considering modernizing the canal.

References

External links

Kanał Gliwicki on official pages of RZGW Gliwice

Kanał Gliwicki - serwis informacyjny

{{Authority control Buildings and structures completed in 1939 Canals in Poland

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 flow un ...

Canals opened in 1941