Elbląg Channel

Medal available at the ticket office building and at the Buczyniec slipway!

The Elbląg Canal – one of the most technically advanced waterways in Europe in the 19th century.

The Ostróda-Elbląg Canal, also known as the ‘Elbląg Canal’, is a unique water system connecting the West Masurian (Oberland) lakes with the Vistula Lagoon. Its originality lies in overcoming the 100-metre difference in water levels, almost naturally occurring in this region, by means of a set of 5 slipways. The ramps are rail-mounted hoisting devices mechanically driven by the force of the water flow. This world-class marvel of hydraulic engineering was designed by the Prussian engineer Georg Jacob Steenke in the second quarter of the 19th century, during the reign of King Friedrich Wilhelm III, and built under King Friedrich Wilhelm IV, with the aim of economically connecting East Prussia with the Baltic Sea. The canal waited many years for construction to begin, which finally started at the end of October 1844.