Old River Elbe Tunnel

Old River Elbe Tunnel was one of the first underground crossings that was constructed by cleaving through river Elbe. The Tunnel was built between 1907 and 1911; it sinks to 23 m below sea level, with its twin tubes extending to 450 m.

Old River Elbe Tunnel allows pedestrians, automobiles to commute with the help of four large goods elevators which are placed to the opening of each tube.

The purported use of Old River Elbe Tunnel in Hamburg was to provide easy conveyance to Hamburg’s port and shipyard to their works on the Elbe Island of Steinwerder. The presence of Elbe River Bridges did little to alleviate the problems of these workers while commuting every day to their workplaces. Prior to the coming of the Tunnel, these workers swarmed the many ferries with their daily load.

The rudimentary ferry service available was not equipped to meet the increase in the number of workers. The grievances of the daily commuters reached the authorities in 1902, who finally agreed upon the construction of the underground passage, since a bridge would have cost a lot more. As a wonderful complement to the underground passage, the authorities also gave their nod to the comstruction of underground rail line, which was completed in 1912. The train brought workers spread all over Hamburg to Landungsbrücken.

The architects of Old River Elbe Tunnel went to the graves thinking that the tunnel they had designed was deep enough to allow a ship to pass without causing any impediment to it. Today the ships whose drafts are over 12m are not allowed to travel to the Hamburg port, rather they have to circumvent towards Waltershof or Altenwerder.

Visitors can use the tunnel at any time of the day; cars are allowed access from Monday to Friday between 5.30 in the morning to eight in the evening.