The Kiel Canal is the most heavily used artificial waterway in the world, a claim that surprises most people who have never stood beside it. It cuts ninety-eight kilometres across the base of the Danish peninsula from the North Sea at Brunsbüttel to the Baltic at Kiel, saving ships a long detour around Denmark, and it was opened in 1895 under the German emperor. The spot on the towpath near Schacht-Audorf, close to Rendsburg, is a fine place to watch it work.
The scene is hypnotic. A huge container ship or tanker glides past at walking pace, its hull towering above the bank, so close that you can read the name on the bow and wave to the crew. The ships seem to move across the fields, because the canal sits low in the landscape, and a freighter appears above the hedges as though it were sailing through the meadows. Cars cross the canal on high bridges, and the old low-level ferries, which are free to use, ply back and forth in places.
The canal has an unusual place in the landscape of Schleswig-Holstein. The countryside on either side is farmland, rolling and green, with cattle, rapeseed and hedges, and the contrast between the quiet fields and the vast industrial vessels is striking. Rendsburg itself is known for an iron railway bridge with a suspended ferry hanging beneath it, one of the few of its kind in the world, a piece of engineering from the early twentieth century that still carries passengers.
The roads along the canal are flat, straight and fast, with a good surface and light traffic outside commuting hours. The wind can blow strongly across the open land, so hold the bars firmly. Riding here is not about corners but about the pleasure of an easy road, a wide sky and the occasional ship. A picnic on the bank is a good idea.
Büdelsdorf, about seven kilometres away, has about ten thousand people and the fuel and shops you need, and Rendsburg is next door with more. Spring and early autumn have the clearest light, and a still morning is best for photographs of the ships.