Kanalschleuse 30, Lock system in Mühlhausen, Germany.
Kanalschleuse 30 is a lock system on the Ludwig-Donau-Main Canal in Mühlhausen that helps boats navigate elevation changes along the waterway. The structure features a stone chamber with wooden gates and an adjoining house where the lock operator lived and worked.
Built in the 1840s during the expansion of the Ludwig Canal, this lock was part of a major engineering effort to connect the Danube and Main rivers. It represents one of many technical solutions developed to improve boat traffic across Bavaria's inland waterways.
The former keeper's house next to the lock was home to generations of lock operators and their families who lived and worked here together. This bond between dwelling and workplace shaped how people experienced daily life at this canal location.
You can view the restored lock from marked viewing areas and read informational signs that explain how it operates. Walking along the canal path offers the best vantage point to observe both the lock structure and the keeper's house.
A 2018 renovation added new lock gates while keeping the original 19th-century stone walls intact. This approach demonstrates how to modernize historical structures without drastically changing how they appear.
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