Motorways, canals, ports in Berlin

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Berlin's inner city is partly surrounded by a motorway (Autobahn), the A 100 Berliner Stadtring, that forms a half circle to the west of the center. There are plans to extend this motorway to form a full circle around the inner city. The A 10 Berliner Ring motorway which forms a full circle around the exterior of Berlin is known and signposted as the Berliner Ring. From the A 100, within the city, the following motorways extend outwards to the A 10 and beyond:

• A 111 to the northwest (toward Hamburg and Rostock)
• A 113 to the southeast (toward Dresden and Cottbus). This motorway currently begins in the south-eastern part of Berlin. By 2007, the connection to the A 100, currently under construction, should be complete.
• A 115 to the southwest (toward Hanover and Leipzig). The segment of this motorway inside the A 10 is still commonly known as the Avus.
• A 114 runs from Pankow to and beyond the A 10 toward Szczecin in Poland.

Berlin is linked to the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, and the River Rhine by an extensive network of rivers and canals. The Elbe-Havel Kanal links the River Havel, flowing from Berlin, both with the River Elbe—which flows into the North Sea at Hamburg—and with the Mittellandkanal, which stretches across Germany to a network of canals that provide a link to the River Rhine. The Oder-Spree Kanal links Berlin's River Spree with the Oder River, which flows into the Baltic Sea near Szczecin.

The most important canals with Berlin run roughly east to west between the Rivers Spree and Havel. The canal system to the north of the Spree begins with the Berlin-Spandauer Schifffahrtskanal, which runs from the Spree near Hauptbahnhof to the edge of Charlottenburg, where it connects with the Westhafenkanal, which re-enters the Spree farther west in Charlottenburg, and with the Hohenzollernkanal, which runs to the River Havel above Spandau. The main canal to the south of the Spree is the Teltowkanal, which runs from an arm of the upper Spree south of Köpenick through the southern part of Berlin to an arm of the Havel just east of Potsdam. A shorter canal, the Landwehrkanal, parallels the Spree just to the south of the river. It begins at the Spree between Treptow and Kreuzberg and rejoins the Spree in Charlottenburg. The Neuköllner Schifffahrtskanal connects the Landwehrkanal with the Teltowkanal; while the Britzer Zweigkanal connects the Teltowkanal with the Spree at Baumschulenweg.

Berlin's largest port is the Westhafen (“west port”), in Moabit (Mitte), with an area of 173,000 m² (42.75 acres). It lies at the intersection of the Berlin-Spandauer Schifffahrtskanal, the Westhafenkanal, and the Hohenzollernkanal. It handles the shipping of grain and pieced and heavy goods. The Südhafen (“south port”), which actually lies along the Havel in Spandau, in far western Berlin, covers an area of about 103,000 m² (25.5 acres) and also handles the shipping of pieced and heavy goods. The Osthafen (“east port”), with an area of 57,500 m² (14.2 acres), lies along the Spree in Friedrichshain. The Hafen Neukölln, with only 19,000 m² (4.7 acres), is located along the Neuköllner Schifffahrtskanal in Neukölln. It handles the shipping of building materials.