The Straussee Ferry (German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

: Strausseefähre) is a passenger cable ferry

Cable ferry

A cable ferry is guided and in many cases propelled across a river or other larger body of water by cables connected to both shores. They are also called chain ferries, floating bridges, or punts....

 that crosses the Straussee

Straussee

The Straussee is a lake, located in Strausberg, Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated about north-east of the city of Berlin. The town of Strausberg occupies the eastern shore of the lake, whilst the forest of the Strausberger Wald is on the western shore....

 lake, near the town of Strausberg

Strausberg

Strausberg is a city in Brandenburg, Germany, located 30 km east of Berlin. With a population of 26,206 in 2010 it is the largest town in the district of Märkisch-Oderland.-History:...

 in Brandenburg

Brandenburg

Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

.

Overview

The ferry service is operated by the Strausberg Railway

Strausberg Railway

The Strausberg Railway is a light railway serving the town of Strausberg in Brandenberg, Germany. It links central Strausberg with the Strausberg railway station, where it connects with trains on the Berlin S-Bahn and the Niederbarnimer Railway...

, using the ferry Steffi, which can carry up to 100 passengers at a time. The ferry is unusual in that it is electrically operated, with an overhead supply at 170 volt

Volt

The volt is the SI derived unit for electric potential, electric potential difference, and electromotive force. The volt is named in honor of the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta , who invented the voltaic pile, possibly the first chemical battery.- Definition :A single volt is defined as the...

s. This is believed to be unique in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, although ferries using a similar power supply exist in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

The ferry service is numbered as route F39 by the Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg

Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg

The Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg is a transport association run by public transport providers in the German states of Berlin and Brandenburg. It is a private limited company owned jointly by the states of Berlin and Brandenburg and the 18 counties and cities of Brandenburg with 1.85% each...

 (VBB), the joint transport association for the states of Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

 and Brandenburg. However it has its own fare structure and does accept the common tariff fares of the VBB.

See also

• Ferry transport in Berlin
  Ferry transport in Berlin
  Berlin, the capital city of Germany, has an extensive network of rivers, lakes and canals. As a consequence ferry transport forms a part of the transport network of Berlin.-History:...
  
  
• Canby Ferry, an electrically driven cable ferry in Oregon
  Oregon
  Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
  
  , United States
• Princeton Ferry, an electrically driven cable ferry in California
  California
  California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
  
  , United States

External links

• Official web page of the Strausseefähre (in German)
• Photographs of the ferry (captions in German)