History of the Canal 

More than a dug and paved canal 

The Kinda Canal and its vital artificial section are part of a waterway that takes the traveller through an enchanting canal and lake system in southern Östergötland renowned for its natural beauty. The canal begins in lake Roxen and continues south through central Linköping, finally ending ninety kilometres farther south in lake Åsunden by Hycklinge/Horn in Kinda. Another way of putting it is that it covers 43 nautical miles southwards. Following the canal southwards means travelling against the current since the Stångån river is one of the few Swedish rivers that flow northwards and is navigable. 

Since the Stone Age the Stångå valley has drawn people, as there are good hunting and fishing condition along its way. This is why there are a number of ancient monuments along the Kinda Canal. The most common are burial sites from the Older and Younger Iron Ages (500 BC – 1050 AD) with their characteristic high location. Then there are ancient fortifications, as well as traces of Stone and Bronze Age settlements.

Plans for establishing a canal between the forest villages in the Kinda area of southern Östergötland and Linköping at lake Roxen had already been discussed in the mid-1700s. One of the basic requirements was being able to use the Stångån river and the lake system formed by lakes St. Rängen, Järnlunden and Åsunden. This would mean that there would only be few places where canals would have to be dug and locks built.

Implementation of the canal plans was begun in 1799. The initial goal was to use the canal to provide timber for central Östergötland. Other products carried also included cereal grains and other farming products. This early operation was limited to the stretch between Horn and Labbenäs at the northern part of St Rängen. The only lock needed was at Brokind between lakes Lilla Rengen and Järnlunden, which was completed in the first decade of the 1800s. Miscalculations led to a collapse of the lock in the spring flood of 1813, stopping the canal traffic after only two years. Shortly after the Brokind collapse, the canal company filed for bankruptcy.

Forty years would go before the canal plans were seriously reconsidered. This new Kinda Canal route would for the most part follow the natural course of the Stångån river towards Linköping, except for the southern part between St Rängen and Hovetorp. This six-kilometre stretch had to be fully excavated. Continuing the canal down to Linköping meant that an additional ten locks had to be built at the Stångån rapids.

The canal was completed in 1870 and was inaugurated for regular traffic a year later. Yet it would function full out for only thirty years or so up to the end of the century. Once the railway between Linköping and Rimforsa was built in the early 1900s, the commercial conditions for the shipping on the canal were reduced and the income drastically reduced.

Starting in the mid-1940s travelling along the Kinda Canal has become a rich, historically interesting experience with little commercial activity.

The AB Kinda Kanal company is currently owned by the Östergötland County Council, Linköping Municipality, Kinda Municipality and the Göta Canal Company.