Hechtsforth Lock is a residential area within the town of Grabow,
named after the lock of the same name on the Elde River.
The lock keeper's house and the power station at the lock are listed buildings.
At the end of the 19th century, due to growing demand for ship transport, several sections of the Elde River were expanded and dammed.
One construction phase was a lock canal a good eight kilometers long between Grabow
and Neustadt, which went into operation in 1895.
It was called the Hechtsforth Canal in contemporary sources.
The Hechtsforth Lock was built at the end of the newly constructed section.
The name, Häktfort in Low German, comes from an old field name.
The tenß dem Hexforde is mentioned in 1654.
Hechtsforth Lock was mentioned as a place at the beginning of the 20th century.
Local hydropower was also to be utilized, for which the barrages at the locks were ideal. Construction of the power plant at Hechtsforthschleuse also began in 1920. It went into operation in 1922, and the town of Grabow was connected to the electricity grid. Since the power plant's capacity significantly exceeded demand at the time, advertising and favorable tariffs attracted customers from the surrounding villages.
Hechtsforthschleuse also became a popular destination for Grabow residents, and a restaurant was opened. After the Second World War, it was operated as a fishing lodge by the Grabow local branch of the Anglers' Association.
In 1997, the power plant became privately owned.
Between Neustadt-Glewe and Grabow, the Elde flows predominantly southwest, and in the area of Hechtsforthschleuse, it flows almost east to west. In the area of the lock, the Elde River, which is regulated by a dam, divides into two branches. The southern branch houses the lock, while the northern branch serves to drive the power plant's turbines and flows beneath the listed power plant building.
The power plant had two vertical Francis turbines with a maximum flow rate of 8 m³/s (190 hp each, approximately 140 kW). In continuous operation, the three-phase generator could provide a bottleneck power of 260 kW.