The Elbe–Havel Canal is a 56-kilometre-long waterway

Waterway

A waterway is any navigable body of water. Waterways can include rivers, lakes, seas, oceans, and canals. In order for a waterway to be navigable, it must meet several criteria:...

 in Germany. It links Magdeburg

Magdeburg

Magdeburg , is the largest city and the capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Magdeburg is situated on the Elbe River and was one of the most important medieval cities of Europe....

, on the River Elbe

Elbe

The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...

, with Brandenburg on the River Havel

Havel

The Havel is a river in north-eastern Germany, flowing through the German states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Berlin and Saxony-Anhalt. It is a right tributary of the Elbe river and in length...

.

Since 2003, the Elbe-Havel Canal has been connected to the Mittelland Canal by the unique Magdeburg Water Bridge

Magdeburg Water Bridge

The Magdeburg Water Bridge is a navigable aqueduct in Germany, opened in October 2003. It connects the Elbe-Havel Canal to the Mittellandkanal, crossing over the Elbe River...

, which crosses above the River Elbe. The Mittelland Canal provides a connection to the west of Germany. To the east, the River Havel connects to the Oder-Havel Canal

Oder-Havel Canal

The Oder-Havel Canal is a German canal built between 1908 and 1914, originally known as the Hohenzollern Canal. Together with Hohensaaten-Friedrichsthaler Wasserstraße, the Oderhaltung and the Schwedter Querfahrt it forms the Havel-Oder-Wasserstraße...

, and the Elbe–Havel Canal thus forms part of a continuous waterway from the west to Berlin and Poland.