1 hour from Berlin to what was once the largest ship lift in the world: a mechanical marvel that lifts ships weighing tons over 36 meters in height.

Who doesn’t enjoy viewing beautifully designed castles with their perfectly landscaped English gardens? There’s no question that they exude tranquility and elegance – and there are plenty of them in the Berlin area. But there are also those who love the untouched, raw essence of landscape and architecture. Whether it’s one of Brandenburg’s oldest industrial sites or the only large-scale untouched beech forest in the region, places like these impress in their own unique way. A particular highlight among them, known not only regionally but also internationally, is the Niederfinow boat lift. It is the oldest structure of its kind still in operation in Germany and is also considered one of the oldest functioning boat lifts in Europe.

At the Niederfinow boat lift, ships are raised or lowered as if in a giant elevator to overcome a height difference of 36 meters. Instead of passing through several locks, a ship enters a water-filled trough – a large tub. This is then moved vertically, similar to an elevator. The ship enters, the gates close, the trough is raised or lowered, and at the end, the ship exits again. In this way, the 36-meter difference in height can be overcome in a few minutes; a complete lock passage takes about 20 minutes.

The original lift was opened in 1934 and is still considered one of Germany’s most famous industrial monuments. It was built because shipping traffic between Berlin and Stettin (now Szczecin) had increased significantly and the existing lock staircase had become too slow. When the structure was completed, it was considered the largest ship lift in the world and a prestigious engineering project.

Its most important technical data include a height of around 60 meters, approximately 14,000 tons of steel used in its construction, and an 85-meter-long and 12-meter-wide trough with a water depth of around 2.5 meters. When filled with water, the trough weighs around 4,300 tons. It is suspended from 256 steel cables and balanced by 192 concrete counterweights – a system that ensures that the enormous elevator requires comparatively little energy.

The Niederfinow location is particularly well suited for a ship lift: there is a significant difference in elevation of around 36 meters between the Oderbruch and the Havel-Oder plateau. Ships traveling from Berlin towards the Oder and on to the Baltic Sea have to overcome this difference in elevation. Before the lift was built, there was a series of locks here – a process that was very time-consuming. With the construction of the lift, the locking process was reduced from around two hours to around 20 minutes.

Over time, however, it became apparent that the historic lift could no longer accommodate many modern cargo ships, as these had become significantly larger. A second lift was therefore built: construction of the new “Niederfinow Nord” lift began in 2008 and was completed in 2022. The project cost a total of around 520 million euros. Today, two facilities stand side by side – the historic lift from 1934 and its modern counterpart.