Georg Steenke

Who was Georg Steenke?

Georg Jakob Steenke was a German architect and a königlicher Baurat of the Kingdom of Prussia. His father Johann Friedrich Steenke and his grandfather, both also from Königsberg, were involved with maritime trade.

In 1833 Steenke built a canal, the Seckenburger Kanal, in the Memel area. He designed the Oberländischer Kanal, which was built between 1844–58 from the Drausensee to the Drewenz River. Inaugurated in 1860, it connected the cities of Deutsch Eylau, Osterode, and Elbing. It connected territories with about 100 yards differences in heights by putting ships on carriage carts on tracks and using pulley wheels and cables to have the ships glide up the hills.

A monument to honor Steenke, was removed after the area became part of Poland in 1945. When UNESCO placed the canal on its list of architectural marvels, the monument was put up again in 1986.