During our water journey, we cannot miss one of the most fascinating points on the route – the City Lock. This is where the Brda takes a little break, and we have the chance to see something that looks like black magic to laymen: ships rising or falling in the water without the use of spells (although some tourists remain unconvinced about this).
A bit of history, but without boredom
The City Lock was built in 1913 and has operated almost unchanged to this day – so you could say it’s a hydraulic dinosaur, but in great shape! Its job is to equalize the water level between the upper and lower sections of the Brda. Sounds complicated? Don’t worry, just watch how the ships “enter” the concrete basin, and then the water rises or falls, carrying them onward. In the past, the lock was part of a huge water highway, where barges transported goods on a massive scale. Bydgoszcz was then one of the most important trading points in the region – it was like Amazon having its logistics center here, only instead of trucks and vans, there were ships.
How does it work?
For the uninitiated, a lock is like an elevator, but for boats. The ship enters, the gates close, and then the magic of hydrotechnics happens: either we fill it with water and the ship rises, or we drain it and the ship flows down. The whole process takes a few minutes and is spectacular, especially when someone from the crew panics thinking it has “got stuck” (don’t worry, no one has stayed here forever yet!).
Fun facts and anecdotes
- In the 1930s, the lock was so modern that shows were organized here for engineers from all over Europe.
- During World War II, it was a strategic point – the Germans feared that the Poles would flood their waterway, so they kept it under strict control.
- There is an urban legend that once a barge full of alcohol got stuck in the lock and it took several hours to get it out. It is unknown how many barrels went missing in action…
If you plan a longer break, there are great coffee spots nearby, and if you want more hydrotechnical wonders, it’s worth visiting other locks on the route.
But beware – if you get too sucked into the topic, you might find yourself searching for an old captain’s hat and planning a trip to Gdańsk instead of returning to the Park Hotel!
