The Augustow Canal (Kanal Augustowski)

I visited the Polish side of this tentative WHS in August 2020. Being a transnational tentative site with Belarus and soon up for inscription, I decided to all a long day trip by car to visit 2 main locations.

On a European scale, the Augustow Canal is a cross-border relic of technology and supposedly has unique hydraulic engineering from the first half of the 19th century. Its total length is 103.4 km, 80 km of which are on Polish territory. The canal was built between 1824 and 1839. To compensate for differences in water levels, 35 km of the Netta and Czarna Hancza rivers were regulated. Over 40 km of drifts were carried out, while 18 locks and 23 sluices were built to regulate the water level.

The Augustow History Museum (closed on Mondays) has a separate section dedicated to the canal so it is were I started my visit (some 4 hours away from any other tentative or WHS!). The museum is situated in a historic house from the 19th century, the so-called Pradzynski Manor House, named after the engineer who designed the Augustow Canal. Close to the museum is the Augustow Lock which was built between 1825 and 1826 but was destroyed in 1944. It was rebuilt shortly after as a single chamber lock located at the 32.5km point of the Augustow Canal. The lock is still fully functional with personnel on duty just in case the lock needs to be operated. With some 'gestures/sign language' …

August 2017 - After Latvia and Lithuania, we entered Poland, an Area which I had not visited with my family so far. we arrived in Wigry NP and it was heavily Raining. And also the next day remained being way too wet and cold for summer. However that morning we drove to Augustow to see some parts of the canal. For a hike it was too rainy, for a boattrip it was too foggy, so we tried to drive close to the canal and cross it a few Times. In Biebrza NP we went to Dębowo, where the canal is eventually merging into the Biebrza. There you can visit some nice wooden locks. However the further we drove the more water was left on the muddy roads. Suddenly we came to a 60cm deep pitch. What a rainy summer that was. We had to go back all the way we came and took the Main road straight to Białystok.

In 1821 when Prussia started putting high tariffs on Polish goods shipped via Prussian harbours Poland started to look for alternatives. They built a canal to connect to Lithuania and Russia and circumvent the Prussian tariffs: the Augustow Canal.

As is often the case with these types of actions, they quickly become obsolete. Prussia eventually relaxed the tariffs so that Polish goods could again be shipped via Prussian ports and the canal was not needed anymore.

In hindsight the Prussian decision seems unwise on multiple levels. You can question it economically. How was Prussia to profit from preventing trade? Having goods shipped via your ports is normally good for your economy as you get to pocket some of the profits for yourself. And looking at the Versailles Treaty after World War 1 you have to wonder if this experience wasn’t one driver for the Polish demand for direct access to the sea, the consequence being Danzig becoming a Free City.

Today the canal is used for recreational purposes only. You can rent boats and travel through lush forests and lakes. Together with neighbouring Masury (Masuren) this is a prime holiday region for Poles.

OUV

The Augustow canal landscape is nice. I greatly enjoyed my time hiking around the lakes and through the woods and it’s easy to understand why Poles enjoy coming here.

Less clear to me is the justification of OUV for the canal itself. I did read the Unesco description and spotted …