The Masurian Canal (, , ) is a abandoned canal in eastern Europe. Planned by Germany to connect Königsberg (Kaliningrad) and Mauersee (Lake Mamry) in East Prussia, construction of the canal was paused for the World Wars and hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic, before being abandoned.
History
Proposals for a canal connecting the Masurian Lakes area with the Baltic Sea at Königsberg existed from the 18th century, when other canal schemes to connect the Masurian Lakes were enacted by Johann Friedrich Domhardt. An early proposal would have had a canal from to the sea making substantial use of river navigations, and another plan was to have a canal leave Lake Mamry north via Węgielsztyn. A further plan for a canal was proposed in 1849, and a survey was drawn up by 1862. This plan would have used inclined planes as on the nearby Elbląg Canal. Failure to acquire consent from landowners was one reason this proposal did not come to fruition.
In 1890, hydraulic engineer August Hess—who had previously designed the Aller Canal—revised the plans to replace the inclined planes with locks, publishing The Masurian Shipping Canal in East Prussia () in 1892. Two years later, engineer Otto Intze published his Expert Opinion on the Utilization of Considerable Water Power for Industrial Purposes Through the Masurian Shipping Canal () which recommended the installation of hydroelectric power stations at the locks.
By 1898 the Landtag approved the land purchase of 200,000ℳ. On 14 May 1908, authorisation was given to construct a navigable waterway between Königsberg and Lake Mamry in the German Reich. The canal, planned to make use of the Pregolya and Łyna rivers upstream of Königsberg and a canal from Allenburg (now Druzhba) to Mamry, would drop approximately from the lakes to the river.
A second phase of construction would have seen an extension to the Narew valley which would have provided an onward connection to Warsaw.
Construction
After authorisation of the canal, the works were divided into two schemes; the first was from the Łyna to the Gerdauen–Nordenburg railway line, and the second was from the railway line to Lake Mamry. The contract for construction was given to Philipp Holzmann and Dyckerhoff & Widmann, and construction began in April 1911.
Construction was halted at the outbreak of the First World War in 1914; the canal was described as being "far from complete" with only two locks having been started. In September 1914, engagements of the First Battle of the Masurian Lakes took place near the canal works.
When construction recommenced after the war, completion was planned for 1940. Many navvies came from west Germany and had accommodation in barracks near the works; some of these later settled in Druzhba. Local men were also employed, which stimulated local economy. In 1921, it was again suggested that the canal could be used for hydroelectric power, with a recognised capacity of up to . The following year, hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic again put works on hold. At this point, construction of most of the locks had begun, with one at Allenburg complete.
Construction recommenced in 1934, using local and forced labour, with a proposed completion of May 1941 and a projected total cost of 19,500,000ℛℳ. In 1936, the lock at Kostromino was reported to have been complete.
The outbreak of the Second World War again halted construction; the cut was complete but many of the locks along the waterway remained unfinished. Navvies were subsequently employed to construct Adolf Hitler's nearby Wolf's Lair and the Mauerwald base of the OKH; a legend suggests that the canal's real purpose was to serve a secret U-boat facility at Mauerwald.
Works were finally abandoned in 1942. The Polish–Soviet border agreement of August 1945 divided the course of the canal, with assigned to Poland and to the USSR. After the Second World War, many of the mechanisms at the locks and weirs were looted.