The Masurian canals began to be built at a time when there were no railways yet. For many people, this is the most surprising fact about the history of the region.
The first major works were undertaken as early as the 18th century. At that time, connecting the lakes into a single water system was a very modern infrastructure project.
The Prussians treated the lakes as a natural communication network. The canals were meant to link separate bodies of water and facilitate the transport of people and goods.
This made it possible to move timber, grain and various products across a vast part of the region without building an extensive road network.
It was then that the first canal sections between the lakes were created. Many of them are still in use today.
The old hydraulic engineering was very well thought out. Natural differences in water levels, the layout of the lakes and existing post-glacial valleys were all put to use.
Today it is easy to see the canals purely as part of the holiday landscape. Yet for hundreds of years they were part of the normal economic life of the region.
Masuria is unique in this respect. In few places in Poland does historical water infrastructure still function in such a natural way.