Lock number 5

The Ludwig Canal (German: Ludwig-Donau-Main-Kanal or Ludwigskanal), is an abandoned canal in southern Germany. It linked the Danube River at Kelheim with the Main River at Bamberg, connecting the Danube basin with the Rhine basin. The canal is named after King Ludwig I of Bavaria, and was built between 1836 and 1846.

The canal had a narrow channel, with many locks, and a shortage of water in the peak section, so the operation of the waterway soon became uneconomic — especially given the rapidly advancing construction of the railway network in southern Germany. The canal was finally abandoned in 1950.

Construction of the roughly parallel, but much larger, Rhine–Main–Danube Canal was started in 1921, but not completed until 1992.

For function, the old canal needed 69 locks and canal keepers houses that were built after a design supervised by the famous architect Leo von Klenze.

The lock-keepers and their assistants were responsible for both the operation of the locks (for an average of three locks), and for the care and maintenance of the channel and its facilities.

Here, we see lock number 5 near the castle of Prunn.

Text adapted from Wikipedia.

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