Zoë Sheng

Chinese-Canadian - 29-Aug-24 -

Sluice gates aren't a common thing on the list. This weir that has protected the nearby city of Magdeburg since its introduction in 1875 and won prices at the Paris expo, then got used as an example for other sluices to do the same around the world. I find this worthy already. Some pictures on the site show similar sluices closer to the cities which for me would be better visits; however, as this is the first sluice it's important by itself. This sluice gate is a bit of a drive from Magdeburg and there is nothing else nearby. The building at the opposite of your parking lot is still in use by the workers so it's not a visit. At first sight I figured that's a small museum/visitor center, perhaps even a ticket and I took the wrong exit to reach but no, it's off limits. You do want to walk over for more plaques and another view onto the sluice from that side of the river though.

Overall I took maybe 30 minutes to see everything and is only because I walked along both sides of the sluice gate with the opposite side not allowing a pass-through. One also cannot visit the interesting top which I find a bit sad but I understand there are people that would leave trash or even damage it if left unattended. After all this gate is useful. At least, I think so. When I was visited the water was very low and nowhere near the gate. Same for the picture.

If you passing through the area it's a worthy stopover but I wouldn't make it a travel goal by itself.

Philipp Peterer

Switzerland - 06-May-24 -

The Pretziener Weir is a 2 hour drive from Berlin Airport, in the middle of nowhere. There are a few WHS within reach, like Dessau, Wittenberg or Quedlinburg, so if you happen to still have to check these it’s just a quick detour.

The weir is located in a side arm of the Elbe River, that was created as a flood relief. Since the construction ended in 1873 it is a crucial part of flood control. It still protects the nearby towns of Schönebeck and Magdeburg. It can be approached from both sides with a tiny parking lot on either side. If there is no flood, the weir is actually dry and you can walk next to it on both sides. The top of the weir was fenced off. There is an info board in German and English as well as a small platform with the history of the weir. We spent around 30 minutes on site, which is plenty.

On the plus side, weirs are not represented at all on the list. And Pretzien takes a special place as its already on the national architecture heritage list and won an engineering price in Paris after it was completed (ironically by forced labour of French POWs).

The other side is, that I am not sure weirs need representation on the list. In general, this place seems not to be a big deal, not even for the Germans. The first sign we found was about 1km from the weir. The website is very outdated and even the wiki article exists only in German. I fear the nomination has more to do with the national WHS approach of Germany to evenly distribute the WHS between federal states. They had to find something else in Saxony-Anhalt and here we go. Nominate the Pretziener Weir. Go their, if you are nearby, but not worth a trip.