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The territory where the canal is located was ceded to Poland from Germany by the Potsdam Treaty in 1945. The idea of connecting the rich lakes (there are about 9,000 of them) with the Vistula Lagoon came to the Germans a long time ago, the whole problem was that on a relatively short section - 9.6 km, the difference in height was about 99.5 m. It was impossible to build locks. The project was developed in 1825 by the Prussian engineer Jacob Georg Steenke from Königsberg, who worked at the court of Friedrich I and Friedrich II with the aim of building a waterway for the economic connection of East Prussia with the Baltic. The most unusual place of the canal, which brought it fame, is a small section (9.6 km) with a significant difference in height (more than a hundred meters). On this section, a system of five boat lifts was built, which transport ships on dry land. The boat lift operates in a manner similar to a funicular and is thus a kind of ship-carrying railway. The boat lifts are still powered by the original hydraulic mechanisms that have been preserved since the canal was built.