Branch Canal (Dortmund-Ems Canal)
The branch canal of the Dortmund-Ems Canal , also known as the branch canal for the disused section in Herne , was an approximately seven kilometer long waterway between the Henrichenburg ship lift and Herne, which was built between 1893 and 1896. The branch canal was the forerunner of a connection between the Dortmund-Ems-Canal and the Rhine, today's Rhine-Herne Canal .
The branch canal began at the canal port of the Friedrich der Große III / IV mine ( 51 ° 33 ′ 50.3 ″ N , 7 ° 15 ′ 13.2 ″ E, ) and ran through the middle of the Horsthausen district to the current A 42 bridge on Bahnhofstrasse ( 51 ° 32 ′ 57.7 ″ N , 7 ° 12 ′ 54.4 ″ E ) , right next to the Shell -Gas station on the outskirts of downtown Herne not far from Strünkede Castle . The lock Herne-Ost is located at the former canal port of the Friedrich der Große colliery .
In the period from 1895 up to 1938 channel served the coal transport between the pits mine Friedrich the large I / II in Herne Horsthausen and III / IV in Herne- Börnig . This section of the canal did not require any locks . The construction of this waterway had become necessary because the infrastructure at that time did not allow any other means of transport, a continuous road connection between Horsthausen and Börnig did not yet exist at the time.
In addition to transporting coal, excursion steamers were also used on this section of the canal. In view of the fact that Herne was on two canals, the city gave the reputation of “Canal City Herne” . In winter, this section of the canal was nicknamed “Herne's longest Schlinderbahn” , and in summer it was called “Herne's longest bathing establishment” .
In 1934 there was almost a break in the dam in Horsthausen due to significant subsidence . As a result, the dams were strengthened again considerably, but the destructive effect of the mountain damage on the canal bed could not be stopped.
For this reason, the section of the branch canal was closed in October 1937, the same fate befell the port of the Friedrich der Große I / II colliery in Horsthausen. In the Horsthausen district there is still a pharmacy, the “Hafen-Apotheke”, which reminds of this time with its name.
On January 12, 1938, the water was drained by a dam blast at the level of the Landwehrbach (today allotment garden association "Im Stichkanal" ). Previously, this section of the canal was separated from the other canal systems with a sheet pile wall at the level of the port Friedrich der Große III / IV in Börnig .
While large sections of the empty canal bed were immediately filled in and put to another use, for example the continuation of the Gneisenaustrasse to the Friedrich der Große III / IV canal port, fine coal deposit at Annex I / II, it was still possible in some places until the construction of the A42 Horsthausen make out the former canal bed. Today the BAB 42 uses this route. To create the first packing layer for the route of the motorway and backfilling the empty canal bed east of the former Werderstraße bridge, the rock from the dump of the former Friedrich der Große I / II mine, which was heaped up in the upper part of Hafenstraße, was used in this area. From Herne Baukau in the direction of Castrop-Rauxel , the earlier course of this waterway can still be recognized by the straight road layout. The facilities of the allotment garden association “Im Stichkanal” already mentioned are also based on the course of the former canal bed.
Before the canal was built, this route was used as a railway line by the Royal Westphalian Railway Company until 1882 .
The Rhine-Herne Canal connected to the actual branch canal to Henrichenburg in 1914. In 1950 the branch canal was officially assigned to the Rhine-Herne Canal, which thus merges into the Dortmund-Ems Canal shortly before the old Henrichenburg ship lift (from 1899).
Individual evidence
- ^ M. Eckoldt (ed.), Rivers and Canals, The History of German Waterways, page 378, DSV-Verlag 1998