Travel Guide "Remembrance Connects Region Oder-Warta"

35 A h i stor i ca l ly common cultura l area A h i stor i ca l ly common cultura l area construction especially heralded an economic upswing. But even the new canal reached the limits of its capacity within a few years and thus had to be widened in nume- rous places between 1895 and 1897 . The second chambers at all the locks followed in the years 1901 – 1914 , and in 1929 , the twin shaft lock at Fürsten- berg was opened to traffic – the largest shaft lock in Europe at the time. Visit both information centres for an in-depth documentation on the de- velopment of a navigable connection between the Spree and Oder rivers. Numerous artificial waterways run right through Brandenburg, connecting the region‘s significant rivers, such as the Spree, Dahme, Oder and Havel. The desire for a navigable connection between the Spree and Oder rivers had existed for centuries. Emperor Charles IV had already planned to achieve this in 1373 when he acquired Mark Brandenburg. The first construction work for a canal between the Spree and the Oder rivers went ahead under Emperor Ferdinand I in 1558 . However, it was not until 1668 that the first German summit-level canal was completed under the Great Elector Frederick William. With increasing industrialisation, the construction of a new connection became necessary 200 years later, leading 1886 to the Prussian govern- ment deciding to build the Oder-Spree Canal, which was ceremoniously opened just five years later. With a new routing, it only used parts of the existing Friedrich Wilhelm Canal and now flowed into the Oder River near Fürstenberg. The canal was considered to be the most important connection between Berlin and Wroclaw. For the towns and settlements along the canal the KERSDORF LOCK FACILITY i Address: An der Kersdorfer Schleuse 9 15518 Briesen (Mark), Deutschland Open: Januay-December (by appointment only) GPS : 52 ° 18 ‘ 20 . 0 “N 14 ° 14 ‘ 22 . 9 “E TWIN SHAFT LOCK EISENHÜTTENSTADT i Address: Unterschleuse 1 15890 Eisenhüttenstadt, Deutschland Open: Januay-December (by appointment only) GPS : 52 ° 07 ‘ 56 . 5 “N 14 ° 39 ‘ 16 . 5 “E Tip: Visit the 1 : 20 scale model of the lock from 1904 in the lock keeper‘s house of the Kersdorf North Lock, on perma- nent loan from the Stiftung Deutsches Technikmuseum association. In Eisenhüttenstadt, you can delve into the details of the historic control station and electrical installations of 1928 , which impressively demonstrate the state of the art at that time. The information centres can be visited by telephone appointment on + 49 3361 77320 34 Information centres dealing with the history of the Oder-Spree Canal Since the Middle Ages at the latest, waterways have been important arteries of trade – including in the Oder-Warthe region