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.
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 bombers 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.
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.
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. 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.