Schleuse Anderten

Schleuse Anderten spans the Mittelland Canal in Hanover, where ships cross a 14.7-metre height difference. Two parallel chambers create a broad industrial scene beside the waterway. Each chamber measures 225 metres long, 12 metres wide, and 3.5 metres deep. Heavy gates close both ends, weighing 86 tonnes below and 20 tonnes above.

Construction began in 1919, when Anderten remained a separate village outside Hanover. The lock opened in 1928 as Europe’s largest inland lock. Its double-lock design uses enclosed saving basins arranged across five levels beside each chamber. Twenty-five basins serve each chamber, reducing the water needed during a passage.

Automation introduced in 2003 shortened the locking process to ten minutes. Up to 22,000 ships pass through annually, carrying goods such as mineral oil between western and eastern Germany. Look closely at the widened chamber walls, where the stepped basins reveal the engineering hidden behind each lift.