The Elsterwerda–Grödel raft canal (German: Elsterwerda-Grödel-Floßkanal), established in the 18th century, serves as a waterway connecting the Pulsnitz River in Elsterwerda with the Elbe River near Grödel in Germany.
The original purpose of the canal, which in the present day is used primarily for recreational purposes, was to meet the high demand for wood in the Dresden/Meissen area from the forests in the vicinity of Elsterwerda (now Brandenburg), which at that time still belonged to Saxony. Its construction was ordered personally by the Saxon Elector. Later, it served primarily as a transport route for the Gröditzer ironworks until navigation ceased in 1942. Barges pulled by laborers (known in the region as Bomätschern) were used for transport. From the 1960s until the fall of the Berlin Wall, it was used as an irrigation canal.
Geographical location, natural area, flora and fauna The Elsterwerda–Grödel raft canal is in the eastern Elbe-Elster region. Beginning at an artificially constructed basin adjacent to the Elbe River in Grödel, Saxony, the canal runs in a northeasterly direction through the western Großenhainer Pflege region. Continuing this path, it then proceeds to the Schraden area before reaching its final point at Holzhof in Elsterwerda, Brandenburg.
Between Pulsen and Gröditz the canal intersects with the three estuary arms of the Große Röder, from which it is fed. In the vicinity of the town of Gröditz, the canal has since been filled in over a length of about one kilometer, which is now divided into two distinct sections. While the southern section of Gröditz flows into the Große Röder through a pipeline, providing it with a water supply. Simultaneously, the northern section is supplied with water from the Große Röder via another pipeline. Additionally, Elsterwerda has a connection to the Pulsnitz shortly before it converges with the Schwarze Elster River further downstream.Willy Handrack, Ernst Fischer: Der Grödel-Elsterwerdaer Floßkanal – ein technisches Denkmal aus dem 18. Jahrhundert. In: 250 Jahre Floßkanal Grödel-Elsterwerda 1748–1998. Lampertswalde 1997.
It has an average width ranging from approximately 7 to 9 meters. The canal spans a total of 21.4 kilometers, with approximately 15.45 kilometers of this length situated within Saxon territory. Along the entire stretch, six widened passing places were built to facilitate meetings between barges. In its course, it passes by the villages of Glaubitz, Radewitz, Marksiedlitz, Streumen, Wülknitz, Koselitz, Tiefenau, Pulsen, Gröditz, Prösen and ultimately reaches Elsterwerda. Among other things, it passes under the Riesa-Dresden railroad line and the main road 98 in Glaubitz, the main road 169 in Prösen, and the Berlin-Dresden railroad line in Elsterwerda.Tilo Jobst: Flora und Fauna des Grödel-Elsterwerdaer Floßkanals. In: 250 Jahre Floßkanal Grödel-Elsterwerda 1748–1998. Lampertswalde 1997, pp. 80–83.
Within Elsterwerda, a portion of the raft canal intersects with the 484-square-kilometer Niederlausitzer Heidelandschaft Nature Park, the centerpiece of which, the Forsthaus Prösa nature reserve, hosts one of the largest contiguous sessile oak forests in Central Europe. The canal itself has a diverse fish population and plays a crucial role in supporting the endangered Elbe beaver, a rare subspecies of the European beaver. Additionally, it serves as a habitat and breeding ground for various species of water birds.
The aquatic flora within the canal encompasses a variety of floating and submerged plants, including hornwort, water milfoil, duckweed, pond lilies, and pond weeds. Along the riparian zones, observations have identified bush carnation, alpine butterwort, marsh gentian, and the abundant presence of reeds in certain areas.
Name
The watercourse known by the local communities as simply "the canal" has had a variety of names in the past and continues to do so today. Historical maps, writings, and documents have documented several different names for this structure, alongside the name Elsterwerda-Grödel-Floßkanal.
While the jubilee volume of the local history societies Elsterwerda and Gröditz published in 1997 was named "250 years of the raft canal Grödel-Elsterwerda", the water body was again named Floßkanal Elsterwerda - Grödel in 1912 in the Neues Archiv für sächsische Geschichte und Altertumskunde (New Archive for Saxon History and Antiquity), a professional journal for Saxon regional history. In the map of the German Empire published in 1907 by Perthes in Gotha and in the Vienna Peace Treaty of 1815 (Article 17) the canal is called Elsterwerdaer-Floßgraben.Publication: Peace Treaty between Your Royal Majesty of Saxony etc. and Your Royal Majesty of Prussia etc. concluded and signed at Vienna on 18, and ratified on 21 May 1815, Dresden . in the Saxony-Anhalt State Archives. Alfred Hettner's Geographische Zeitschrift from 1898 calls it Grödel-Elsterwerdaer Floßkanal. Under this name, it is also described in volume 63, "Der Schraden", of the publication series Werte der deutschen Heimat published in 2001. The Riesa River Master's Office still calls the canal by this name in the present day. Meyers Konversations-Lexikon from 1885 and Petermanns Geographische Mitteilungen published in 1902 described it as Grödel-Elsterwerdaer Kanal.
Other common variants included and still include Floßkanal Grödel-Elsterwerda, Elsterwerda-Grödeler Floßkanal, Elbe-Elster-Floßkanal, Elster-Elbe-Canal, Elbe-Elster-Kanal, and Floßkanal.
Historical development and use of the raft canal
A residential city needs wood
Under the rule of Saxon Elector Friedrich August I, also known as Augustus the Strong, there was a significant surge in construction activity in the Dresden/Meissen area. August had his residential city on the Elbe River expanded into one of the most magnificent in Europe. This expansion included not only the development of the Dresden Neustadt but also the construction of numerous other buildings, including the establishment of the famous porcelain manufactory in Meissen. Moreover, Dresden experienced substantial population growth during this period. Between 1648 and 1699, the population increased by a third, growing from 16,000 to 21,298 residents. By 1755, this population would triple to reach 63,209 inhabitants. The rising demand for wood in this growing city led to a search for new sources of timber. Since the Ore Mountains were already extensively exploited, and Bohemian timber was costly, attention turned to the vast forested areas in the northern part of the Electorate. These included the Grünhauser Forst, situated south of Finsterwalde, the Liebenwerdaer Heide, the Plessaer Heide, and the Schradenwald. Although these forests were largely state-owned, they had previously been primarily used for hunting and were thus relatively untouched at that time.
The area was characterized by the presence of two significant bodies of water, the Black Elster and the Pulsnitz. While the lower course of the Pulsnitz had undergone substantial straightening efforts for drainage purposes since the 16th century through the construction of the new Pulsnitzgraben, the Schwarze Elster flowed through the lowlands in numerous small, winding tributaries. Therefore, a regulated rafting operation was only possible here below the town of Liebenwerda, which in turn made it necessary to first raft the wood to the mouth of the Elster at Jessen with an altogether high effort and then to transport it back upstream the Elbe.
The most suitable way to bring the coveted raw material to the royal city by the shortest route seemed to be a connection between the Black Elster and the Elbe, which was yet to be built. The first plans for the project to connect the two rivers were undertaken on the personal orders of the Elector as early as 1702. However, the preliminary planning and investigations were to take several more decades.
After the first construction tests of a raft ditch, the so-called main raft ditch with a length of 26 kilometers was realized sometime later. The main raft ditch was fed by three tributaries. They started in the forests south of Finsterwalde, at the now devastated village of Gohra, south of Lichterfeld, and the Mahlenzteich near Nehesdorf. The tributaries subsequently converged at Sorno. From here, the main raft ditch ran via Oppelhain, crossing the eastern Liebenwerda and Plessa heaths to the Schwarze Elster near Plessa and on to Elsterwerda. This construction project proved relatively straightforward, as the builders had previously acquired experience in similar endeavors in Saxony. The main raft ditch was completed as early as 1743 and became operational the following year.
The project faced increased complexity in the section connecting the Black Elster and Elbe rivers. Here, the water level at the planned outlet into the Elbe was higher than in Elsterwerda. In standard raft ditches, wood would naturally move or drift in the direction of the water flow. Consequently, a canal needed to be built to overcome the elevation differences using sluices. Engineer Johannes Müller, responsible for preliminary investigations, submitted the initial drafts for this canal in 1727. Due to extensive investigations, calculations, and tests, the commencement of construction was repeatedly postponed to ensure the project's profitability. Additionally, there were contentious debates about the canal's route; an alternative line from Prieschka to Stehla had been considered but faced strong opposition from influential figures who deemed it too costly, among other concerns. The route between Elsterwerda and Grödel also underwent several alterations. Construction of the canal finally commenced after the death of Augustus the Strong in 1733, under the rule of Elector Friedrich August II in 1742.K. Mende: Der Floßkanal Elsterwerda-Grödel und seine Entstehung. In: Die Schwarze Elster. Nr. 167-169, 1912 (Heimatkundliche Beilage zum Liebenwerdaer Kreisblatt).
Müller, who had previously overseen the construction of the main raft ditch, was assigned the responsibility for the canal's construction. The original completion date for the canal was scheduled for 1744. However, the project encountered numerous challenges. Excavation work proved to be highly expensive, securing a reliable workforce was a persistent issue, and difficulties arose in establishing a connection to the Elbe and the Prösen sluice. The presence of unfavorable foundation soil, specifically alluvial sand, posed a significant challenge, leading to multiple renovations of the Prösen sluice. It was not until 1767 that this sluice functioned satisfactorily.Gerhard Richter: 250 Jahre Floßkanal Grödel–Elsterwerda in: Mitteilungen des Landesvereins Sächsischer Heimatschutz e. V., Heft 3/1997, pp. 49–54 As a result, the direct connection to the Elbe was ultimately abandoned.
After six years of construction and after it had been flooded shortly before, the first two barges pulled by bombers finally passed the completed canal in a test run on 2 December 1748. It took place in the presence of a state canal commission and the meanwhile appointed raft master Schubert and lasted, with an interruption in Prösen, for twelve hours. The cost of the project totaled 65,437 thalers, noticeably more than the 52,610 thalers originally approved for construction. Added to this were 5800 thalers for the raft ditch.
Division of the channel
Problems at the Prösen sluice led to several interruptions in the canal's operation. Nevertheless, the construction of the canal did lead to improvements in the supply of timber within its sales area, as the availability and cost of Bohemian timber also became more favorable.