MITTELLAND CANAL

also called Ems-weser-elbe Canal, German waterway begun in 1905 and completed in 1938. It extends from the Dortmund-Ems Canal east of Rheine, Ger., eastward along the northern border of the Central Uplands, to the Elbe River north of Magdeburg (a distance of about 199 miles ), linking there with the Havel Canal eastward to Berlin. Side canals connect it with Osnabrck, Hannover, Salzgitter, and Hildesheim. Peine, between Hannover and Braunschweig (Brunswick), and Wolfsburg are both on the main canal, which carries barges of up to 1,000 tons. Locks connect it with the Weser and Elbe rivers. Coal and iron ore make up a large part of the barge traffic.