Ebbing transport

Up until the 1990s, around five million tonnes of goods were transported on the Elbe each year, but the figure has dramatically fallen to under one million in recent years due to low water.

Controversy surrounds plans to build a new weir on the Elbe in Decin, designed to raise its water level and thus improve navigation.

While it has government support, environmentalists question its viability and fear an irreversible environmental impact. ‘Since 2013, transporting goods has been paralysed by low water levels on the Elbe in Germany for up to seven months of the year,’ argued Nikol Krejcova, of Arnika.

‘Reliable transport on the Elbe up to Hamburg is an unrealistic idea,’ he insisted.

If the project goes ahead, the hunger stone will vanish under water, but Decin has no plans to move it to higher ground. ‘Certainly not, we won’t lose it. It’ll still be there, just beneath the surface,’ said a smiling Pazourek.