Eider Canal conservation areas. Eider Canal The Eider Canal (also called the Schleswig-Holstein Canal) was an artificial waterway in southern Denmark (later northern Germany) which connected the North Sea with the Baltic Sea by way of the rivers Eider and Levensau. Constructed between 1777 and 1784, the Eider Canal was built to create a path for ships entering and exiting the Baltic that was shorter and less storm-prone than navigating around the Jutland peninsula. In the 1880s the canal was replaced by the enlarged Kiel Canal, which includes some of the Eider Canal's watercourse. The canal's watercourse followed the border between the
Baltic Sea Division Baltic Sea Division The Baltic Sea Division () was a 10,000 man German military unit commanded by Rüdiger von der Goltz. The core of the division comprised two army brigades from the German Eastern Front: 95. Reserve Infantry Brigade (led by Colonel K. Wolff) and 2. Guards Cavalry Brigade (led by Colonel H. von Tschirsky und von Bögendorff). They were supported by additional artillery and pioneer troops, and transported to Finland by a naval squadron led by Hugo Meurer. The military activity of the division in Finland served part of the foreign policy of the German Empire after the Treaty