The Loop or Darss Canal (''Darßer Kanal'') was an inlet of the sea between the lagoon known as the ''

Saaler Bodden The Saaler Bodden forms the southwestern part of the Darss-Zingst Bodden Chain and lies east of the Fischland peninsula about 30 kilometres northeast of Rostock.''Die General Karte No. 1 - Schwerin-Rostock-Rügen'', 1:200,000 scale, Mairs Geograp ...

'' and the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

near

Ahrenshoop Ahrenshoop is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Rügen district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany on the Fischland-Darß-Zingst peninsula of the Baltic Sea. It used to be a small fishing village, but is today known for its tourism and as a holi ...

on the German coast. It formed the northern boundary of the region of

Fischland Fischland (literally "fish land") is an isthmus on the southern Baltic Sea coast on the Bay of Mecklenburg in northeastern Germany. It is part of the peninsula of Fischland-Darß-Zingst. Fischland was an island until the 14th century and was bound ...

. Originally the Loop was the northern estuarine branch of the River Recknitz. The old inlet ran between the present villages of Ahrenshoop and Althagen. The Loop was roughly two metres deep and had posts for mooring boats and barges. Its navigability was frequently curtailed by storms and silting up. Today only a small ditch remains on the former Mecklenburg-Pomeranian border, which runs alongside a main road, the so-called ''Grenzweg'' ("border way"). The cartographer and court astronomer at the Mecklenburg court, Tilemann Stella, described the Loop thus: ''"Between the village of Oldenhagen lthagenand the Arnshope hrenshoop the waters of the Ribnitz river and lake break through into the salty sea. Beyond the beach is a large pile of rock and bricks at the place by the beach; that was the customs post, located 3 or 4 ''ruthen'' 0 metresinto the salty sea. Beyond that, forty or fifty posts stood in the salt sea, at the end of which was a large pile of rocks on which the fort stood."'' At the end of the 14th century the

Pomerania Pomerania ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The central and eastern part belongs to the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, West Pomeranian, Pomeranian Voivod ...

n duke, Barnim VI, wanted to turn Ahrenshoop into a larger trading town in order to benefit from the growth in trade. The then ''Arneshop'' was an important trading post with up to 500 inhabitants. To that end, he had the place protected by ditches, border fortifications, customs posts and a fortified redoubt. Its further development failed, however, due to the vulnerability of the Loop to the vagaries of the weather. The

Victual Brothers The Victual Brothers () were a loosely organized guild of privateers who later turned to piracy. They affected maritime history, maritime trade during the 14th century in both the North Sea, North and Baltic Sea, Baltic Seas. They were initially ...

also used the Loop and the Permin near Wustrow to enter the waters of the ''

bodden Bodden are briny bodies of water often forming lagoons, along the southwestern shores of the Baltic Sea, primarily in Germany's state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. These lagoons can be found especially around the island of Rügen, Usedom and ...

'', which they used as a refuge between their piratic raids. The Hanseatic city of

Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

, which envisaged its trading privileges being affected by a harbour on the

Darß The Darß or Darss is the middle part of the peninsula of Fischland-Darß-Zingst on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The peninsula's name is of Slavic origin. There is a large forest in ...

, finally had Ahrenshoop destroyed, after two failed attempts, in 1395 and the Darß Canal filled in.

External links

* {{coord, 54, 22, 43, N, 12, 25, 09, E, region:DE-MV_type:waterbody_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Fischland-Darß-Zingst Darss-Zingst Bodden Chain