Elbe-Lübeck Canal

The path is quite strict. On the one hand lies on the road, it is just not a smooth asphalt, on the other hand blowing there often a strong wind. Kanal halt ..... On our journey from Mölln to Lauenburg we realized then that we would rather take the train back ..... But the effort was worth it, you should not miss Lauenburg.

The forerunner of the Elbe-Lübeck Canal is the historic Stecknitz Canal, which was built by the Lübeckers in the course of the Stecknitz and Delvenau rivers between 1391 and 1398. Their old routes can still be seen on the left and right of today's Elbe-Lübeck Canal. This canal had 17 locks (initially dams, later as chamber locks) over a length of 97 kilometers and was the first real watershed canal in Europe. Of the locks, the palm lock in Lauenburg and the Dückerschleuse (storage lock) at Witzeeze are still preserved. This waterway remained in operation for almost 500 years until the start of construction on the ELK.

The new canal was put into operation in 1900. As the only German canal of this era besides the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal, the Elbe-Lübeck Canal was designed for 1000-ton ships right from the start. The seven locks mediate traffic between the Elbe and the Baltic Sea via the apex at Mölln, which is about twelve meters higher than the Trave. They are designed for two ships each 8 meters wide and up to 80 meters long (or at that time for 65-meter-long barges in a tugboat association), only the Lauenburg lock, which was renewed in 2006, is 115 meters long.

The importance of the canal today is rather low, as the small lock and bridge dimensions for today's times do not allow economical container transport and only small inland vessels up to a loading of 1000 t can pass the canal. The canal is mainly used today for bulk material (such as gravel extracted in the area of the canal). In 2008, the transport volume was 1.1 million tons for 2432 freight ships (both related to the Lauenburg lock). In addition, the canal is also used by sports shipping in traffic between the Baltic Sea and the Elbe (approx. 5000–6000 boats per year)

Source:
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elbe-Lübeck-Kanal

A not too easy bike path for travelers with a lot of luggage. But it's worth the trip