Construction began in 1938. Lindenauer Hafen in Leipzig was ambitious. It aimed to connect Leipzig to Germany’s waterways via the Elster-Saale Canal. This canal was incomplete. World War II halted construction. Three warehouse buildings were finished. So was the harbor railway. The connection to the industrial railway PX was also complete. Water access however remained unfinished. Lindenauer Hafen was inaccessible by water until 2015. It remains inaccessible to cargo ships.
The plan was for two harbor basins. Each would be 1000 meters long 90 meters wide and six meters deep. Two industrial harbors were planned north of the main basins. The existing warehouse and storage buildings were used until the 1990s. Since then they have fallen into disrepair. The almost 40-hectare site was even considered for the Olympic Village in Leipzig’s 2012 Olympics bid.
The Wasserstadt Leipzig project revived the Hafen. It aims to connect Lindenauer Hafen to Europe’s waterways. The focus will be on tourism and leisure. The harbor Karl-Heine-Kanal and the Elster-Saale-Kanal will be expanded renovated or completed. The Saale-Elster-Kanal Förderverein supports this goal since 2007. In 2012 the city council approved extending the Karl-Heine-Kanal to the harbor. The first ground-breaking ceremony was in September 2012.
The Karl-Heine-Kanal connection was flooded in January 2015. The 665-meter connection was completed three weeks later. The extension was inaugurated in July 2015. A lock is needed in the Karl-Heine-Kanal south of the Luisenbrücke. This is necessary to manage high and low water levels. A 75-meter connection to the Elster-Saale-Kanal awaits.
Between 2010 and 2013 a building plan was developed. This was for a 17-hectare area. After reorganizing the plots they were sold for housing in 2013. By early 2021 many houses were built. Around 480 apartments a daycare center and eight to ten commercial units were planned for completion by 2022. A promenade was also created. A new waterfront district has emerged.
Between 2004 and 2020 19.63 million euros were invested. Funding came from the Stadtumbau Ost and Städtebauliche Sanierungs- und Entwicklungsmaβnahme programs. Around 10.5 million euros were generated from land sales. The Wohnensemble Hafen Eins won the 2021 BDA Sachsen Architecture Prize. The Wohnensemble Hafen Eins and the OurHaus cooperative housing project also won the 2021 Leipzig Architecture Prize. The LVB bus line 60 terminal moved to Hafenstraße at Lindenauer Hafen. Today Lindenauer Hafen is a vibrant and modern part of Leipzig.