City Canal

The City Canal is one of the historic emblems of Potsdam that are currently being reconstructed.  

There were already early drainage ditches in Potsdam by the Middle Ages. In 1722 Frederick William I had the existing municipal ditch straightened, deepened and lined with wood. The City Canal formed a branch of the Havel and was thus supplied with water from the river. It ran a distance of one and a half kilometres through the centre of Potsdam. Under Frederick II, the son of Frederick William I, the municipal canal was provided with a sandstone lining, and nine stone bridges with impressive decorative figures were built to replace the original wooden bridges. On the banks of the City Canal prestigious residential buildings now sprang up to house affluent townsfolk. These locals were said to live on the Gracht, as the City Canal was then known...