The Rendsburg transporter ferry hangs on the railway bridge over the Kiel Canal in Rendsburg. It has spanned the Kiel Canal at kilometer 63 since 1913 and thus connects the city of Rendsburg in the north with the villages to the south of the canal. The Rendsburg transporter ferry was built together with the railway high bridge by Friedrich Voss.
This construction is unique in the world. A trolley is mounted under the railway bridge and runs back and forth on rails attached to the outside of the bridge carriageway. The ferry is suspended from it, driven by 4 electric motors and fastened with 12 steel cables.
It was opened to traffic on December 2, 1913 and has been commuting regularly from bank to bank ever since. It can carry four cars and 100 people. The ferryman in his cabin above the lane is solely responsible for the safe crossing. The ferry basket has actually only undergone one major change since it was put into operation. In 1955 the pedestrian walkways were added to the side. The security technology, however, is continuously adapted to the latest standards. The ferry has a radar device and also an emergency drive and much more. When the NOK was completed, the government of the time determined that all canal crossings should be free of charge for citizens. It is still like that today.
From 5 a.m. to 11 p.m., the transporter bridge floats every quarter of an hour from one bank to the other of the artificial waterway. It can cross four cars and 60 pedestrians in less than 2 minutes the 135 meters across the canal.