Crossed Locks in Emden, Navigation lock system in Emden, Germany

The Crossed Locks is a navigation facility with four water chambers arranged in a cross pattern that allows boats to transfer between different canal levels. The system connects the Ems-Jade Canal with the Fehntjer Tief through a controlled water adjustment mechanism.

The lock was designed by Berlin government architect Wilhelm Germelmann and opened in February 1887 after ten months of construction, originally with two chambers. Its capacity was soon exhausted, so it was enlarged to four chambers between 1911 and 1913. A general renovation from 1982 to 1989 amounted to a rebuild; the lock is a listed monument and remains the only structure of its kind in Europe.

The lock sits where four Emden districts meet: Wolthusen, Herrentor, Klein-Faldern and Groß-Faldern. Its name comes from the round central basin, the "Kessel", 33 metres across. Beside it stand the lock-keeper's house and the lock-servant's house, both kept in their original state.

The lock lies at the meeting point of the Ems-Jade Canal, the Stadtgraben, the Fehntjer Tief and the Rote Siel, where the districts of Wolthusen, Herrentor, Klein-Faldern and Groß-Faldern touch. Around 2,800 boats are locked through each year, mostly pleasure craft, so watching from the bank is easiest in the boating season. The keeper's house and the lock servant's house stand beside the lock in their original state.

The round central basin, 33 m across, is a turning basin rather than a lock chamber: ships enter through one of four smaller chambers set at right angles, then leave through another. This differs from the round lock at Agde, where the central basin itself is the lock chamber.