The Rendsburg high bridge is the sort of structure that makes people stop and take photographs, even if they do not care about engineering. Completed in 1913, it carries a railway line over the Kiel Canal on a long iron girder, 42 metres above the water so that the tallest ships can pass underneath. The railway does not simply cross the canal, however; it loops down and around the town on an enormous spiral so the trains can lose height gently, and the result is a steel ribbon that circles over the roofs.
Hanging from the bridge is the other attraction, a transporter ferry, a platform suspended from rails that glides across the canal carrying cars and pedestrians. There are very few of these left in the world, and this one is still running and costs next to nothing to use. Riding onto it is a small adventure, and the view of ships passing close overhead is worth the short wait.
The Kiel Canal, which opened in 1895 as the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal, links the North Sea with the Baltic, saving ships a long trip around Denmark, and it is one of the busiest artificial waterways in the world. Watching a huge container ship slide silently past a quiet town street is one of those odd, memorable northern German sights. The roads that run beside the canal are straight, flat and quiet, with a service road on each bank and long views through the trees.
The point lies at ten metres above the sea, close to the centre of Rendsburg, a town of twenty-eight thousand with fuel stations, supermarkets and plenty of places to eat. Büdelsdorf, next door, is big as well. The wind blows constantly over the open country, and you will feel it on the bridge approaches. Allow time for the ferry, since it only carries a few vehicles at a time, and bring a camera. The best light comes in the late afternoon, when the ironwork turns a deep red-brown and the ships glow.