Boats Instead of Excavators: The Lusatian Lake District Is Now Open

Europe’s largest man-made lake network has been officially opened. The state premiers of Brandenburg and Saxony, Dietmar Woidke (SPD) and Michael Kretschmer (CDU), inaugurated it in Neu-Seeland on Lake Sedlitz in Brandenburg. This marks the first time that Senftenberger Lake, Geierswalder Lake, Partwitzer Lake, Sedlitzer Lake, and Großräschener Lake have been connected into a single system via navigable canals.

The Lusatian and Central German Mining Administration Company (LMBV) called it a “historic milestone.” According to the LMBV, the contiguous body of water covers approximately 5,100 hectares—about half the size of Lake Müritz in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. 

Woidke expressed his pride in the lakes

Woidke and Kretschmer had previously traveled separately, each in a police boat, through two different new canals to attend the ceremony. “Lusatia as a whole—both the Saxon and Brandenburg parts of Lusatia—has thus become even more attractive,” Woidke said before setting off. “Jobs have been created, and tourism has advanced.” He emphasized: “For me personally, it’s something very special.” Woidke grew up on the outskirts of the Jänschwalde open-pit mine.

The lakes were created from flooded open-pit mines. Senftenberger Lake was opened as early as the 1970s. The network is expected to give tourism a boost. Until now, there were only two navigable waterways in the region. Now the Sornoer Canal, the Rosendorfer Canal, and the Ilse Canal have opened.