CanalGermany · DE
Sacrow-Paretz Canal
The Sacrow–Paretz Canal (Sacrow-Paretzer Kanal) is a 12.5-kilometre waterway in Brandenburg that slices through the lake country just north of Potsdam, giving ships a faster, safer way between two arms of the River Havel. Opened in 1876, it links the Jungfernsee at the Berlin–Potsdam city edge with the Göttinsee near Paretz, shortening the river route and skipping the old, awkward bridge passages through Potsdam and Werder. This is a working federal waterway rather than a polished sight: there are no locks, traffic flows freely, and the banks are lined with the trees and earthen embankments thrown up from the original excavation. For visitors, the pleasure lies in the open water, the steady parade of barges and pleasure craft, and the quietly engineered landscape around Potsdam and the Havelseen.