Hadeln Canal

The Elbe–Weser waterway (German: Elbe-Weser-Schifffahrtsweg) or Elbe–Weser shipping channel is a short-cut between the rivers Elbe and Weser in North Germany which is part-canal and part-river. It has a length of 54.7 kilometres (34.0 mi) and is designed for smaller coastal vessels. It includes some 60 kilometres (37 mi) of canal dykes and 45 kilometres (28 mi) of canal paths. The channel starts in Otterndorf with the Hadeln Canal, then becomes the Bederkesa-Geeste Canal from the town of Bad Bederkesa to the River Geeste, the final leg of the shipping channel, which flows into the Weser at Bremerhaven. It is owned by the state of Lower Saxony, maintained by the NLWKN from its Stade office. Today they just look after maintenance of the drainage system, because the economic element of the canal – commercial shipping which was particularly thriving in the late 1960s – declined increasingly from 1973 onwards and today hardly exists at all.

Very early on, rulers in the Elbe–Weser triangle wanted to build a link between the Elbe and the Weser, because ships had to follow a long detour around Cuxhaven, Neuwerk and Scharhörn. This circuitous route was necessary because the Wadden Sea, with its shoals in the area between the Weser and Elbe estuaries, was unnavigable. In addition, in stormy seas small boats did not dare to make the passage. The first records of the subject between the Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg, the Archdiocese of Bremen and the Hadlers date to the year 1542. As early as 1608/09 a section had been excavated, albeit filled in again by order of the Archbishop of Bremen. Other attempts were made in 1661 and 1768 to 1773. Under French rule another plan was drawn up between 1806 and 1811, but did not come to fruition. This plan had the aim of also creating a link between the Oste and the Geeste.

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