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27-681: The older Stecknitz Canal had first connected Lauenburg and Lübeck on the Old Salt Route by linking the tiny rivers Stecknitz (a tributary of the Trave ) and Delvenau (a tributary of the Elbe ). Built between 1391 and 1398, the Stecknitz Canal was the first European summit-level canal and one of the earliest artificial waterways in Europe. After German unification in the late nineteenth century, there

54-537: A city in the northern central part of the country and then transported to Lübeck , a major seaport on Germany's Baltic Sea coast. Historians generally recognize the Old Salt Route as part of a much longer path, which functioned as an important connection between the northern and southern reaches of the country. One of the oldest documents that confirms Lüneburg and its role in refining and transporting salt dates from 956 A.D. According to that document, King Otto I

81-617: The Baltic Sea , including Falsterbo , which boasted a Scania Market . There it was used for the preservation of herring , an immensely important food in the Middle Ages, as well as for other foods. The salt trade was a major reason for the power of Lübeck and the Hanseatic League . Horse-drawn carts brought the salt from Lüneburg to a crossing of the Elbe river at Artlenburg (near Lauenburg ) and from there, via Mölln , to Lübeck. For

108-551: The Elbe–Lübeck Canal , which includes some of the Stecknitz Canal's watercourse. The original artificial canal was 0.85 metres (33 in) deep and 7.5 metres (25 ft) wide; the man-made segment ran for 11.5 kilometres (7.1 mi), with a total length of 97 kilometres (60 mi) including the rivers it linked. The canal included seventeen wooden locks (of which the Palmschleuse at Lauenburg still exists) that managed

135-542: The Lüne Monastery . The scenic route is especially attractive for nature lovers. The 106-kilometre-long (66-mile) path diverges from the main thoroughfare at Witzeeze, continues on through the Lauenburg Nature Park and rejoins the main route just before Lübeck. Once, the area around Lüneburg was covered in lush woodlands. But because the medieval salt works depended on wood as a fuel used in boiling and purifying

162-476: The Sound Dues and foreign shipping. In the fifteenth century traffic peaked, with more than 3,000 shipments of more than 30,000 tons of salt moving on the canal each year. This number declined by the seventeenth century to 400 to 600 shipments (5,000 to 7,000 tons). In 1789 there were still sixty-four shipments carrying approximately 680 tons of salt. Plans for a new Baltic–North Sea canal were proposed as early as

189-572: The drainage divide between the North and Baltic Seas, with a summit height of 17 metres (56 ft) above sea level. In order to supply the top portion of the canal with water, flow was diverted from Hornbeker Mühlenbach . To the north the canal descended to the Ziegelsee by the town of Mölln and then connected to the Stecknitz by a series of eight locks. The southern end of the artificial canal descended to

216-453: The towpath on the banks of the channel. By the 19th century newer vessel designs included rigging that eliminated the need for towing (with sufficient wind). In Lauenburg and Lübeck the barges were unloaded and their contents transferred to ships for export down the Elbe and Trave. Stecknitz bargees were only permitted to own one barge each, so they could not acquire great wealth in the trade; in

243-639: The 13-metre (43 ft) elevation difference between its endpoints and the highest central part, the Delvenaugraben . In the Middle Ages the trade between the North Sea and Baltic Sea grew dramatically, but the sea journey through Øresund , increasingly important to commercial shipping since the thirteenth century, was time-consuming and dangerous. Therefore, the emerging Hanseatic city of Lübeck and Eric IV of Saxe-Lauenburg agreed in 1390 to cooperate in

270-505: The 16th century, for example, about 19,000 tons of the product were carried from Lüneburg to Lübeck each year either by land or water. However, it still took about twenty days to complete each trip. In modern times, a trip along the Salt Road promises a rich blend of nature and culture. The trip can be made on foot or on bicycle and part of the distance can also be enjoyed on a paddle-wheeled steamer. There are many fascinating sights along

297-532: The Baltic region. In the reverse direction the Stecknitz barges transported cereals , furs , herring , ash , timber and other goods from Lübeck, which were reloaded in Lauenburg and transported down the Elbe to Hamburg . Later coal , peat , brick , limestone and gravel were added to the cargo. The importance of the canal was greatest in years in which Øresund was closed to merchant ships because of disputes over

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324-458: The Delvenau through a staircase of nine locks. The original salt barges measured roughly 12 metres (39 ft) by 2.5 metres (8.2 ft), with a 40-centimetre (16 in) draft when loaded to capacity with around 7.5 tons of salt, and required at least ten days to make the journey one way. When traveling uphill or through chamber locks the barges had to be hauled by laborers or animals walking

351-587: The Great granted the St. Michaelis Monastery in Lüneburg the customs revenue from the saltworks . Even at those early times, the city's wealth was based in large part on the salt found in the area. The Old Salt Route attained its peak of success between the 12th and the 16th century. The trade route led from Lüneburg northward to Lübeck . From that port city, most of the salt was shipped to numerous destinations that also lie on

378-534: The construction of an artificial canal between the Elbe and the Baltic Sea. Construction on the canal began in 1391; thirty barges carrying the first load of salt from Lüneburg reached Lübeck on 22 July 1398. The Stecknitz Canal soon replaced the existing overland cart road as the main transport mode for Lüneburg salt on the Old Salt Route . In Lübeck the salt was stored in vast salt warehouses and then transferred to ocean-going vessels for export throughout

405-528: The full journey from Lauenburg to Lübeck stretched to a distance of 97 kilometres (60 mi), even though the straight-line separation between the two cities is only 55 kilometres (34 mi). The journey along the canal often lasted two weeks or longer due to the number and primitive design of the locks and the difficulty of towing. The canal's course originally included thirteen locks , which later renovations increased to seventeen. Initially most were one-gate flash locks built into weirs (usually set below

432-612: The long run this ensured their dependence upon the Lübeck salt merchants, who were not bound by any such limitations and amassed great fortunes. The guild of the Stecknitzfahrer (Stecknitz bargees) still exists today in Lübeck and meets annually at the Kringelhöge to celebrate the guild's history. 53°39′N 10°39′E  /  53.650°N 10.650°E  / 53.650; 10.650 Old Salt Route The Old Salt Route

459-413: The most part, however, the historic trade route was composed of unsurfaced, sandy and often muddy roads through heathland, woods and small villages, making the transport of salt an arduous task. In addition, the route was somewhat dangerous, since the valuable cargo attracted thieves, bandits and marauders. The dangers faced by those who make the long trek and the fact that only relatively small quantities of

486-419: The mouth of a tributary creek), where water was dammed until a barge was ready to pass downriver. In Lauenburg the initial course included one chamber lock (the Palmschleuse ) because of a watermill whose operation would have been made impossible by a flash lock. Over the course of the canal's lifetime further flash locks were progressively converted to chamber locks until the 17th century. The canal overcame

513-407: The north-flowing Stecknitz and south-flowing Delvenau . The man-made trench itself was about 85 centimetres (33 in) deep and 7.5 metres (25 ft) wide, though it was enlarged between 1821 and 1823 to a depth of 144 centimetres (57 in) and a width of 12 metres (39 ft). Outside the artificial segment the canal followed the tortuous natural watercourses of the two rivers; as a result,

540-419: The old canal's watercourse. The new Elbe–Lübeck Canal was inaugurated by German Emperor Wilhelm II and opened to shipping traffic in 1900. Today it continues to carry substantial freight traffic, as well as offering a scenic route for pleasure craft. The canal passes through two locks ascending from the Elbe to the canal's highest point and five locks descending from the high point to the Trave . Each lock

567-442: The old trade route. These points of interest include the historical towns Lüneburg, Mölln and Lübeck, which are highlighted by beautiful façades and little alleyways, and are a major attraction to visitors. As a bicycle route, there are the options of a main and a scenic route. The shorter main route (95 km) leads bicyclists through many picturesque little towns such as Lauenburg, Büchen , Mölln and Krummsee and also passes by

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594-545: The precious crystalline substance could be carried in any single journey, made moving salt via overland routes very expensive. In 1398, though, the Stecknitz Canal , one of the first manmade waterways in Europe , was completed, making it possible to transport much more salt in a single shipment and to do so with much greater ease and safety. That change helped merchants satisfy the salt requirements of an ever-growing demand. In

621-601: The seventeenth century, but none was implemented until the end of the nineteenth century, when the new Elbe–Lübeck Canal was built using parts of the old route of the Stecknitz Canal. For five hundred years the canal was used to transport the "white gold" and other goods; today the Palmschleuse lock in Lauenburg is one of the last remaining parts of the former canal, preserved as an historical monument. The Stecknitz Canal consisted of an 11.5-kilometre (7.1 mi) artificial waterway (the Delvenaugraben ) linking two minor rivers,

648-445: The tiny rivers Stecknitz (a tributary of the Trave ) and Delvenau (a tributary of the Elbe ), thus establishing an inland water route across the drainage divide from the North Sea to the Baltic Sea . Built between 1391 and 1398, the Stecknitz Canal was the first European summit-level canal and one of the earliest artificial waterways in Europe. In the 1890s the canal was replaced by an enlarged and straightened waterway called

675-471: Was a medieval trade route in Northern Germany , one of the ancient network of salt roads which were used primarily for the transport of salt and other staples. In Germany it was referred to as Alte Salzstraße . Salt was very valuable and essential at that time; it was sometimes referred to as "white gold." The vast majority of the salt transported on the road was produced from brine near Lüneburg ,

702-484: Was a burst of canal-building within the new German Empire . The Stecknitz Canal had been in service for centuries, but newer vessels demanded deeper and wider canals, and modern engineering offered the possibility of rebuilding and enlarging the venerable waterway. In 1893 the German government closed the Stecknitz Canal to barge traffic, and in 1895 construction began on a widened and straightened waterway which includes some of

729-416: Was built with an interior length of 80 metres (260 ft) and an interior width of 12 metres (39 ft). 53°33′N 10°40′E  /  53.550°N 10.667°E  / 53.550; 10.667 Stecknitz Canal The Stecknitz Canal ( German : Stecknitzfahrt ) was an artificial waterway in northern Germany which connected Lauenburg and Lübeck on the Old Salt Route by linking

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