Arzviller: Canal History and Boat Lift

Arzviller offers a thematic look at waterways, navigation and engineering structures. Key points of interest include the Saint-Louis-Arzviller inclined plane, the historic Arzviller–Henridorff flight of locks and the Vallée des Éclusiers, which is used as a greenway. Also in the area are EuroVelo 5, which leads to Arzviller, and a museum dedicated to inland navigation. When planning your trip, it is worth considering modern boat trips, historic infrastructure and the current use of the canal corridor as distinct aspects.

Boat Lift and Flight of Locks

The Saint-Louis-Arzviller inclined plane is a boat lift and has been awarded the French “Remarkable Contemporary Architecture” designation. Boat trips are offered in the Arzviller area, during which boats are raised nearly 45 metres by a 900-tonne boat lift.

The Arzviller–Henridorff flight of locks was built in 1853 to enable the Canal de la Marne au Rhin to cross the Vosges watershed. It comprised 17 locks over 3.8 kilometres and overcame an elevation difference of 44.55 metres. This elevation difference refers to the entire flight of locks, not to a single lock. It is close to the nearly 45 metres overcome by a boat trip using the boat lift. The elevations are therefore comparable, but the structures are different: on the historic route, the climb was spread over a series of locks, whereas the inclined plane is a boat lift.

Vallée des Éclusiers and EuroVelo 5

The Vallée des Éclusiers has been closed to navigation since 1969. Today, the valley has been developed as a greenway for walkers, cyclists, anglers, climbers and nature enthusiasts. Landscape features include former lock keepers’ houses and an old, partly abandoned canal whose bed is overgrown with aquatic plants. The canal’s former use and the valley’s current activities thus represent different phases of its history.

EuroVelo 5 follows the canal corridor to Arzviller, passes the abandoned flight of locks and then continues to the boat lift. For cycle tourists, this sequence provides a concrete route connecting the canal corridor with the structures mentioned.

Museum and Underground Galleries

The Musée de la batellerie near Arzviller is housed in a 39-metre-long barge that was converted into a dry dock. The exhibition features the living quarters of an inland waterway boatman, historic navigation tools and machinery, as well as archival photographs. This brings together different perspectives on inland navigation, including living and working conditions and visual material.

The Souterrain d’Arzviller has two separate galleries: one for the canal and one for the railway. The two transport routes therefore run through separate galleries rather than sharing a common tunnel space. Together with the lock structures and the boat lift, this structure adds to the picture of the different engineering forms associated with the region’s transport routes.

These perspectives differ in form: EuroVelo 5 describes a route along the canal corridor, the Vallée des Éclusiers is a greenway today, and the Musée de la batellerie is an exhibition in a converted barge. The route, landscape and exhibition thus offer different ways to explore the history of navigation.

Discover more destinations: Alaincourt-La-Côte, Lutzelbourg, Kerprich-Aux-Bois, Bayon, Saint-Louis, Haspelschiedt, Amnéville, Saint-Julien-Lès-Metz

For the regional travel overview: Moselle.