The Luisenstadt Canal, or Luisenstädtischer Kanal, was a

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It is named after the

Luisenstadt Luisenstadt () is a former quarter (''Stadtteil'') of central Berlin, now divided between the present localities of Mitte and Kreuzberg. It gave its name to the Luisenstadt Canal and the Luisenstädtische Kirche. History The area of the neigh ...

district and ran through today's districts of

Kreuzberg Kreuzberg () is a district of Berlin, Germany. It is part of the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough located south of Berlin-Mitte, Mitte. During the Cold War era, it was one of the poorest areas of West Berlin, but since German reunification in ...

and

Mitte Mitte () is the first and most central borough of Berlin. The borough consists of six sub-entities: Mitte proper, Gesundbrunnen, Hansaviertel, Moabit, Tiergarten and Wedding. It is one of the two boroughs (the other being Friedrichshain-Kreuz ...

, linking the

Landwehr Canal The Landwehr Canal (), is a canal parallel to the Spree river in Berlin, Germany, built between 1845 and 1850 to plans by Peter Joseph Lenné. It connects the upper part of the Spree at the eastern harbour () in Friedrichshain with its low ...

with the

River Spree Spree may refer to: Film and television * '' The Spree'', a 1998 American television film directed by Tommy Lee Wallace * ''Spree'' (film), a 2020 American film starring Joe Keery * "Spree" (''Numbers''), an episode of the television show ''Numbe ...

, and serving a central canal basin known as the Engelbecken or Angel's Pool. The canal is named after Queen Louise, the wife of King Friedrich Wilhelm III. The canal was designed by

Peter Joseph Lenné Peter Joseph Lenné (the Younger) (29 September 1789 – 23 January 1866) was a Prussian gardener and landscape architect. As director general of the Royal Prussian palaces and parks in Potsdam and Berlin, his work shaped the development of 1 ...

based on earlier plans by

Johann Carl Ludwig Schmid Johann Carl Ludwig Schmid (12 September 1780 in Cottbus – 4 September 1849 in Berlin) was a German architect. He succeeded August Günther as leader of the Oberbaudeputation in 1842, and in 1848 the kingdom of Prussia made him director of Berlin ...

and was built between 1848 and 1852. Besides its

transport Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

drainage Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of a surface's water and sub-surface water from an area with excess water. The internal drainage of most agricultural soils can prevent severe waterlogging (anaerobic conditions that harm root gro ...

and sewage roles, it is also a design element in the development of the surrounding area, and was designed as a decorative strip, flanked by quays lined with neoclassical buildings. The canal never attracted significant boat traffic, and due to its slow flow and increasing sewage contamination became stagnant and offensive. Between 1926 and 1932, the canal was partially filled in and transformed by the landscape gardener

Erwin Barth Erwin Barth (28 November 1880 – 10 July 1933) was a German landscape gardener and architect. His work was part of the architecture event in the art competition at the 1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics (), officially the G ...

into a sunken garden, with its ground level at about the old water level. The ''Engelbecken'' was retained as an ornamental pool with the addition of fountains. During and immediately after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, parts of the gardens were badly damaged, and sections of the sunken gardens in-filled with rubble. In 1961 the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...

was constructed along the northern part of the course of the former canal. Since 1991, many of the destroyed gardens have been restored to the design of 1928.

References

Canals in Berlin Buildings and structures in Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg Buildings and structures in Mitte Canals opened in 1852 1852 establishments in Prussia 1852 establishments in the German Confederation {{Berlin-struct-stub

See also

References