With a length of 326 kilometres, the Mittelland Canal is the longest artificial waterway in Germany. It forms an important link in the waterway network of Germany, providing the principal east-west inland waterway connection. Its significance goes beyond Germany as it links France, Switzerland and the Benelux countries with Poland, the Czech Republic and the Baltic Sea.

Construction of the Mittelland Canal was started in 1906, starting near Rheine on the Dortmund-Ems Canal. The section to Minden on the Weser was opened in February 1915 and was initially named Ems-Weser-Kanal. At Minden the canal crosses the river Weser over two aqueducts (the second completed in 1998), and near Magdeburg it crosses the Elbe, also with an aqueduct.

The section from Minden to Hanover was finished in the autumn of 1916. The section to Sehnde was completed in 1928, Peine was reached in 1929, and Braunschweig in 1933. The final section to Magdeburg was opened in 1938. After the reunification of Germany, the project to bridge the Elbe was started, and the resulting Magdeburg Water Bridge opened in 2003, providing a direct link to the Elbe-Havel Canal.

Rechlin-Lärz is a former military airfield with a long history. Construction of the first airfield at Rechlin started in 1916. The airfield was officially opened on 29 August 1918. After the end of World War I, the airfield was closed again and many of its installations dismantled. During the 1920s, the airfield was reopened as a civilian airbase, but it was soon used as a testing ground for the secret German air force experiments.

In 1935, the Rechlin airfield became the official testing ground of the newly formed Luftwaffe. The airfield was expanded by constructing two more airfields: one just east of the main site (Roggentin) and one just south of the main site (Lärz), which became the modern 21st century airfield site. After several Allied bombing runs on the Rechlin and Roggentin airfields in 1944, testing of late-war planes was shifted just southwards to Lärz.

On April 10, 1945, a final bomber attack by the US Army Air Forces almost completely destroyed the airfields. What was left was blown up by the German garrison before Soviet troops arrived at Rechlin on May 2. In 1946, the Soviet Air Force established a permanent presence at the airbase. Military usage of the airfields continued until 1993, when the last Russian air force units were moved home. The Rechlin airfield was reopened for civilian use in 1994.