Tablet with inscription from Duke Ulrich of Mecklenburg on the completion of the canal between the Elbe, Lake Schwerin and Wismar

• Solnhof limestone, 1578, width: 32 cm

The Latin inscription framed by arabesques emphasises that, in 1578, Duke Ulrich arranged for the canal to be built for the use of the citizens and at his own expense. The aim of the canal was to avoid the drawn-out and dangerous passage through the Öresund. The shipping lane from the Elbe now went via the Elbe River to the Baltic Sea near Wismar. The canal aimed in particular to facilitate the trading of salt from the Lüneburg Saltworks within the Baltic Sea region and engage Mecklenburg in the north-south overseas trade.

Yet it was not until 1580 that the work could be finished in part. In 1593/94 continuous shipping on the “Viechelnschen” route was launched only to be discontinued shortly afterwards as a result of damage to the locks. Wallenstein tried to revive the waterway that was later named after him. The relatively small tablet made from cauterised Solnhof stone suggests that it was originally mounted in an inside space, possibly in Güstrow Palace, which belonged to Duke Ulrich.