The Westhafenkanal (WHK) in Berlin is a federal waterway[1] of waterway class Vb and is managed by the Spree-Havel Waterways and Shipping Authority.
The Westhafenkanal is 2.9 kilometers long[2] and has a water depth of 3.75 meters. It leads from the upper lock forecourt east of the Charlottenburg lock to Berlin's Westhafen and flows east of the Northern Sea Route Bridge into the Spree section of the Berlin-Spandau Shipping Canal. A few hundred meters before that, the direct route from the Berlin-Spandau Shipping Canal to the Westhafen, the 240-meter-long Westhafen-Verbindungskanal (WVK) of class IV, flows under the Southern Sea Route Bridge. Construction began in 1938, was interrupted in the following years due to the Second World War and was only completed between 1954 and 1956. After passing the Charlottenburg lock, ships from the lower Spree had to take a three-kilometer-long detour over the Spree and the Charlottenburg connecting canal on their way to the Westhafen, which was unsuitable for larger ships.[3]
The initial state before the construction of the canal can be found on the 1932 city map[4]. In 1954, a canal route was already drawn up to near the Alter Tegeler Weg[5] and finally the canal route to the lock was completed on the 1955 city map[6], also on the 1961 map, but still to the Alte Schleuse.[7]
The Mörsch Bridge, the Goerdelersteg and the Ludwig-Hoffmann Bridge lead over the canal. A subway line runs under the canal. This section of the tunnel for the planned U5 line currently ends at the unused platform in Jungfernheide station.
As part of the German Unity Transport Project No. 17, the Westhafen Canal was widened on its northern bank by 2013.