The inland waterways of Germany have also played an important part in the economic development of the country. The great rivers, which even in early times were of considerable value, have, in many cases, been deepened and connected with one another by canals, so that there is now a fairly complete system of water communication over a large part of the Empire. The Rhine was formerly navigable for boats carrying over 400 tons as far as Mannheim, but the head of navigation for such is now being pushed up the river towards Strassburg, and will probably be eventually carried as far as Basel, which can only be reached at present by those of smaller size. The Rhine is connected with the French waterways by the Rhine-Marne canal, which crosses the Vosges by the Gap of Saverne and has branches to the Saar and the Moselle ; and the Rhine-Rhone canal, which leaves the Rhine valley by the Gap of Belfort. Of the tributaries of the Rhine, the Main is navigable by larger boats to Frankfurt and by smaller ones to Wiirzburg, while the Neckar is navigable to Heilbronn, but by smaller boats only.
The Dortmund-Ems canal was constructed to provide the industrial region around the Ruhr coalfield with an outlet in German territory. The canal itself runs from Dortmund to Meppen, where it joins the Ems, a distance of ninety-four miles. For another fifty-five miles the Ems has been canalised, after which the waterway follows the open river as far as Emden. It is pro posed to connect the Dortmund-Ems canal with the Rhine by another canal running from Herne to the neighbourhood of Ruhrort. The Weser is navigable for larger boats as far as Bremen, and for smaller ones to Cassel. Under the law of 1905, the river is to be deepened as far south as Hameln, and at the same time to be connected by a canal with the Dortmund-Ems canal.
The Elbe and the Oder are both navigable by large boats, the one to Prague and the other to Kosel. Berlin, situated between these two rivers, is connected with both : with the Oder by the Finow and Oder-Spree canals, and with the Elbe by the Havel and Plauer canals. The Elbe, moreover, is brought into communication with the Baltic by two canals, the Kaiser Wilhelm ship canal from Kiel, and the Elbe-Trave canal from Liibeck. The Vistula, which is navigable for large boats almost to Bromberg, is connected with the Oder by the canalised courses of the Netze and the Warthe. The Danube is of but minor importance within German territory.
The Rhine carries a much larger amount of goods than any other German waterway. Iron ore, scrap iron, and agricultural produce are sent upstream from the Dutch frontier as far as Ruhrort, and coal and some manufactured goods in the opposite direction. Beyond Ruhrort the chief articles going upstream are coal and agricultural produce, while building materials and manufactured products move downstream. By the Dortmund-Ems canal, iron ore and food-stuffs are despatched inland, and coal and coke are sent to the coast. When this canal is connected with the Rhine, it will serve to a much greater extent than at present the whole of the Ruhr industrial region. On the Elbe large quantities of lignite, wood, and sugar are brought down from Bohemia, the sugar going to Hamburg for export, while the lignite is used by many towns along the course of the river. Of the upstream traffic, agricultural produce is the most important item. By the Mark waterways, large quantities of building material, coal, coke, and food-stuffs are brought to Berlin and its suburbs. Coal and coke are sent downstream on the Oder from the Silesian coalfield, and iron ores and food-stuffs upstream.