Old Route Dortmund-Ems Canal near Olfen

The old canal runs water-free through the middle of Olfen and is elevated with a view over 2 bridges through a beautifully designed green area to a pond in the area of the old port. South of Olfen it goes deeper and along the water to the Lippe. The footpath runs on the left here, the bike path on the right and ducks and coots frolic in the middle. And everything is almost exclusively car-free. Very nicely done!

A disused section of the Dortmund-Ems Canal near Olfen is known as the Old Cruise. The 8,650 meter long section extends from the Datteln canal junction (canal kilometer 21.5) to behind Olfen (30.3 km) and is accompanied by a footpath and cycle path.
The Dortmund-Ems Canal was opened in 1899. In the area of the Altefahrt the canal had particularly high dams, at 5600 meters higher than twelve meters and at 2775 meters higher than nine meters. In addition, five canal overpasses were built in this area, three of which were road crossings and the Lippe and Stever crossings. From 1929 to 1937 the first new, rapid route was built from Datteln towards Lüdinghausen. In total, the Dortmund-Ems Canal received eight “second trips”. They had become necessary to take account of the increased volume of traffic with larger types of ships. In particular, the bridge structures, which did not allow ships to cross paths, had previously delayed the rapid transport of goods. The construction was also a job creation measure by the National Socialists, completed by prisoners from the Börgermoor concentration camp after they came to power.
Source: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alte_Fahrt_(Dortmund-Ems-Kanal)

Romantic view, down into the Auental