The Sacrow–Paretz Canal, or Sacrow-Paretzer-Kanal in German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

, is a canal

Canal

Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...

 in the German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 state of Brandenburg

Brandenburg

Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...

. It provides a short cut for vessels navigating 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...

, linking the Jungfernsee

Jungfernsee

The Jungfernsee is located north of Potsdam, Germany. It was a glacial kettle and is now part of the River Havel, which runs along its southeastern shore, which is also the only part of its shores that is in Berlin...

, near Potsdam

Potsdam

Potsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel, southwest of Berlin city centre....

, with Paretz.

Building of the canal started in 1874, and it was opened in 1876. Since then it has been widened and deepened twice, once between 1888 to 1890, and again in the 1920s. Unlike the Havel Canal

Havel Canal

The Havel Canal, or Havelkanal in German, is a canal in the German state of Brandenburg. It provides an alternate route to the River Havel, between Hennigsdorf and Paretz, thus avoiding a passage through the waterways of Berlin between Spandau and Potsdam.Construction of the canal was authorised by...

, which also provides a short cut for the River Havel, and also has its downstream end at Paretz, both ends of the Sacrow–Paretz Canal are downstream of Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

.

The canal is 12.5 kilometres (7.8 mi) long, of which 7.5 kilometres (4.7 mi) comprises artificially cut channel, whilst the rest is accounted for by several lakes. Besides the Jungfernsee, these include the Weißer See, the Fahrlander See

Fahrlander See

Fahrlander See is a lake at Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany. At an elevation of 29.4 m, its surface area is 2.105 km². The Sacrow–Paretz Canal flows through the lake....

 and the Schlänitzsee. The canal has no locks

Lock (water transport)

A lock is a device for raising and lowering boats between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water level can be varied; whereas in a caisson lock, a boat lift, or on a canal inclined plane, it is...

, and is crossed by four bridges.