Kiel is the state capital and at the same time the most populous
city in Schleswig-Holstein. Founded as Holstenstadt tom Kyle in the
13th century, it became a major city in 1900. Today Kiel is one of
the 30 largest cities in Germany and forms the center of the Kiel
region.
Kiel is the northernmost major city in Germany. It is
located on the Baltic Sea (Kiel Fjord) and is the end point of the
most frequented artificial waterway in the world, the Kiel Canal,
internationally known as the Kiel Canal. Kiel is traditionally an
important base of the German Navy and is known for the annual
international sailing event Kieler Woche, the handball club THW
Kiel, the football club Holstein Kiel and the culinary specialty of
Kiel sprats.
In addition to the service sector, the largest
German shipyard ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems and the Kiel Baltic Sea
port with its ferries to Scandinavia and the Baltic States are of
economic importance. The independent city is the seat of three
universities: the Christian-Albrechts-Universität, the
Fachhochschule and the Muthesius Kunsthochschule.
Kiel lies to the right and left of the Kiel Fjord. This is an estuary
of the Baltic Sea, which forms the port, tapering to the south. Due to
their location, parts of the city are sometimes also referred to as the
east bank and west bank. On the east side, the small river Schwentine
flows into the fjord. On the west side are the locks of the Kiel Canal,
which flows into the Elbe near Brunsbüttel.
Mitte, the city
center with the old town, castle and ferry dock
On the east bank
you will find the districts:
Gaarden, the district where mainly the
shipyard workers of the Howaldtswerke (HDW) lived
Ellerbek /
Wellingdorf, half workers' settlement, half village
Neumühlen-Dietrichsdorf, formerly a fishing village with many fish
smokehouses, north of the Schwentine
On the west bank you will
find the districts:
Düsternbrook, with the state government
buildings, residential area and bathing establishment
Wik, industrial
town, is dominated by the Navy
Holtenau, north of the Kiel Canal,
formerly a timber port
Pries - Friedrichsort, small shipyards, navy
and the airfield
Schilksee, rural, bathing beaches, Olympic center
By plane
1 Kiel Holtenau Airport (IATA: KEL) . The city has its
own airport, Kiel-Holtenau, whose runway is too short for large aircraft
and is therefore no longer used for scheduled flights. Charter services
are offered. The airport is also suitable for self-flyers. Customs and
border clearance is possible. Accommodation can be provided for flight
crew.
2 Hamburg Airport internet (IATA: HAM), Flughafenstr. 1 – 3,
22335 Hamburg. Tel.: +49 (0)40 507 50, fax: +49 (0)40 50 75 12 34,
e-mail: info@ham.airport.de . Hamburg Airport is the nearest commercial
airport with international connections. The Kielius - the airport bus
from the airport in Hamburg-Fuhlsbüttel - as well as Flixbus run
regularly from Hamburg Airport to the main station or interim central
bus station in Kiel. The timetable is coordinated, among other things,
with the timetables of the Color Line ferries to Norway and Stenaline to
Sweden.
By train
Kiel is well connected by rail, although most
long-distance trains from the south terminate in Hamburg.
Several
times a day through ICEs coming from the south.
Trains from Hamburg
to Kiel Hauptbahnhof run every half hour.
The train line to Flensburg
means that most cities on the Danish mainland can also be reached within
8 hours. There is also a connection to Neumünster every half hour, as
well as a train line from Lüneburg via Lübeck. This allows traveling from Berlin with the weekend ticket of Deutsche Bahn.
3
Kiel main station, Sophienblatt 25-27, 24114 Kiel. The main train
station is a train station with a good tourist infrastructure, which is
used particularly frequently by arriving cruise ships as well as
pedestrians and cyclists from the daily ferries. Shortly after the
ferries or cruise ships dock, the station is often very crowded. The
train station is also easily accessible for people with restricted
mobility. Barrier-free access via the entrance on the station forecourt
(ramp), there is a lift at the entrance from the Kieler Sailors’ Square,
which is one level below the station hall. Feature: wheelchair
accessible.
4 Suchsdorf stop, Am Bahnhof 3, 24107 Kiel. The Suchsdorf
stop is on the route to Flensburg, but travelers from Flensburg and
Denmark will usually also travel to the main train station. Suchsdorf is
located directly on the Kiel Canal and is closer to the Holtenau
district, a popular starting point for sailing trips on the Baltic Sea.
By bus
5 ZOB commons. The central bus station in Kiel was
completely rebuilt. The long-distance bus stops are again in the new ZOB
from Auguste-Viktoria-Straße opposite the main train station.
The
Kielius - the airport bus from the airport in Hamburg-Fuhlsbüttel - runs
regularly from Hamburg airport to the ZOB in Kiel, bus stop in front of
the station. The timetable is coordinated, among other things, with the
timetables of the Color Line ferries to Norway and Stenaline to Sweden.
6 Parking garage ZOB, Auguste-Victoria-Strasse 9, 24103 Kiel. Phone: +49
(0)431 78 58 30 40, email: kundenservice@psg-greifswald.de. The new car
park with 541 parking spaces has been available 24 hours a day, 7 days a
week since October 2019. Entry and exit is via a double spindle via
Auguste-Viktoria-Strasse. There are disabled parking spaces on all 6
parking decks, 5 electric charging stations on the 3rd parking deck, and
parking spaces for women on decks 1 and 2. The multi-storey car park is
located above the ZOB.
In the street
Kiel is connected to the
motorway network via the A215, the A210 and the A21/B404.
Coming
from the A24 (coming from Berlin), it is advisable to use the A21 from
Schwarzenbek in order to avoid Hamburg and the Elb Tunnel, which is at
risk of congestion.
From Denmark you use the A210 from Rendsburg.
Coming from the south, leave the A7 at the triangle symbol: KN 12
Bordesholm and use the A215 to Kiel.
By boat
There are various
moorings in the fjord. The Schwedenkai is located on the western
inner-city bank of the fjord, and the Norway quay, which was newly built
in 1997, is on the opposite eastern bank of the fjord. Further north, in
the district of Dietrichsdorf, the Ostuferhafen is also on the eastern
side of the fjord, from which the ferries to Lithuania depart. There are
also three other terminals, the Ostseekai, the Sartorikai and the
Böllhornkai, which are used as piers for cruise ships. A few cruise
ships also dock in the uninviting Scheerhafen, right next to the locks
of the Kiel Canal in OT-Wik.
7 Norway Quay
Color-Line,
Norwaykai, 24143 Kiel-Gaarden. Phone: +49 (0)431 7300100, email:
servicecenter@colorline.de . Colorline ferries commute daily from the
Norwegian capital of Oslo to Kiel. The terminal is only about 700m from
the main train station and can be reached quickly on foot or by bike
over the Hörnbrücke bridge. barrier-free The terminal is barrier-free.
Open: Open daily 8am - 3pm. Check-in: Departs Oslo at 2 p.m., arrives in
Kiel at 10 a.m. the next morning. The return trip is at 2 p.m., arrival
in Oslo again at 10 a.m. Check-in for cars in Kiel 120 minutes before
departure, for foot passengers no later than 60 minutes before
departure.
8 Schwedenkai
Stena Line, Schwedenkai 1, 24103 Kiel.
Tel.: +49 (0)431 9099, (0)1806 020100, fax: +49 (0)431 909200, e-mail:
info.de@stenaline.com. Stenaline ferries come to Kiel daily from
Gothenburg in Sweden. Check-in: arrival in Kiel daily at 9.00 a.m.,
departure daily at 6.15 p.m. Check-in no later than 30 minutes before
departure, in the main season possible from 3 p.m
9 Ostuferhafen
DFDS Seaways, Ostuferhafen 15, 24149 Kiel. Tel.: +49 (0)431 20976480,
fax: +49 (0)431 20976102, e-mail: passage.kiel@dfds.com. From Klaipeda
in Lithuania there is a ferry connection to Kiel six times a week. The
journey time is 19 hours.
The locks of the Kiel Canal are
interesting for passengers on cargo ships and are also worth a varied
excursion.
Both Kiel and the surrounding towns on the Kiel Fjord
offer many berths for sports boats.
By bicycle
The Baltic
Coast Cycle Route runs through Kiel.
The Hörnbrücke is the beginning
or end of a tourist holiday route opened in May 2004, the German ferry
route from Bremervörde to the Kiel Fjord.
On foot
The European
long-distance hiking trail E1 and the European long-distance hiking
trail E6 run through Kiel on the same route, as does the Via Jutlandica.
Kiel city center is easy to explore on foot.
The Kieler
Verkehrsgesellschaft (KVG) operates public transport in the city and the
surrounding area with trains, buses and ferries on the fjord. The
service center with car sharing, bike station and bicycle parking garage
is located at the transfer station at the main train station. For
orientation: Kiel network plan. All means of transport can be used at
uniform tariffs of the Verkehrsverbund Region Kiel. There are single
tickets, strip tickets (stamp when you start your journey) and day
tickets. The Schleswig-Holstein Ticket is also accepted.
The ferries
of the Kiel Tug and Ferry Company (SFK) are included in the KVG tariff
and enable wonderful excursions and round trips on the fjord at
attractive prices. The line overview offers a good overview of the
possibilities.
The small passenger ferry ADLER 1 connects Kiel-Wik
with Kiel-Holtenau, in Kiel-Wik the pier is only about 500m from the
viewing platform. The ferry runs every 15 minutes during the day,
offering the ideal opportunity to view the locks from all sides. The
small ferry is ideal for getting very close to the ships. It often
happens that it meanders between the ships entering the lock. The
resulting perspective is impressive. Like all ferries in the Kiel Canal,
the ferry crossing is free of charge.
1 Sankt Nikolai (Protestant-Lutheran), Alter Markt, 24103
Kiel. Tel.: +49 (0)431 950 98, fax: +49 (0)431 982 76 73, e-mail:
gemeindebuero@st-nikolai-kiel.de . Sankt Nikolai is the main evangelical
church and the oldest building in Kiel. Construction began shortly after
the city was founded around 1242. In the years 1877 to 1884 the church
was redesigned in a neo-Gothic style. During World War II, the church
building was badly damaged in an Allied air raid on May 22, 1944. The
valuable interior had been salvaged in previous years. The
reconstruction took place in 1950. The old vaults were not rebuilt,
instead the exterior received a simple gabled roof that encompasses all
three naves. There are three organs in the Nikolaikirche. In front of
the church building stands the sculpture The Spirit Fighter by Ernst
Barlach. Open: daily 10:00-18:00.
2 Petruskirche (Protestant Lutheran
Apostle Church), Weimarerstraße 1, 24106 Kiel. Phone: +49 (0)431 164 56,
fax: +49 (0)431 139 04, email: kontakt@akg-kiel.de. Built in 1905-1907
as a naval garrison church, this place of worship is an impressive
example of early 20th-century modern Protestant church architecture,
built of brick in "native designs" with particularly large stones in
cloister format. Partially destroyed by bombs in 1944 during the Second
World War, the Peter's Church was able to be rebuilt within two months
in 1949, mainly thanks to donations from the American section of the
Lutheran World Federation. The shape of the Art Nouveau windows in their
original glazing enhances the effect of the structural work of art.
3
Jacobi Church (Protestant-Lutheran), Knooper Weg 12, 24103 Kiel. Phone:
+49 (0)431 924 02, email: gemeindebuero@jakobi-kiel.de. The neo-Gothic
church was built from 1882. Today, together with the Lutheran Church, it
belongs to the Evangelical Lutheran Jacobi and Lutheran Congregation.
During the Second World War, the church was destroyed by firebombs
during the air raids on Kiel in 1944 and was rebuilt in a simplified
form after the war from 1952 to 1954. The original pointed tower was
replaced by a filigree, lantern-shaped and glazed round tower that lets
daylight into the church interior. He gave the church the nickname
Hallelujah Gasometer in the vernacular.
4 City Church of St. Ansgar
(Protestant-Lutheran), Holtenauer Straße 89, in 24105 Kiel. Tel.: +49
(0)431 58 78 21 12, fax: +49 (0)431 58 78 21 19, e-mail:
info@heiligengeist-kiel.de. The neo-Gothic hall church with a
rectangular floor plan and semicircular stair towers at the four corners
was built between 1901 and 1903. During the Second World War, the church
was destroyed in the air raids on Kiel in 1944 and was rebuilt in the
early 1950s in the simplest, almost 'Protestant-Reformed' way, in
accordance with the scarce resources. The rosette in the gable front and
the colored banner above the main portal were faced with white. In 1995,
a renewed, weather-related restoration took place.
5 Bugenhagen
Church (Protestant-Lutheran), Lütjenburger Strasse 7, 24148 Kiel. Phone:
+49 (0)431 2001417, fax: +49 (0)431 728575, email:
buero@bugenhagenkirche-kiel.de. The first Bugenhagen church was built in
1896 and demolished in 1941. In 1948 the congregation received an
emergency wooden church from the Swiss Church Aid Organization. The
Bugenhagen Church in Kiel-Ellerbek was consecrated in 1961. The sober
elegance of the nave enhances the beauty of the altar window, which
extends from floor to ceiling and is made in the shape of a cross.
6
Bethlehem Church (Protestant-Lutheran), Möhrkestraße 9, 24159 Kiel.
Tel.: +49 (0)431 39 10 38, fax: +49 (0)431 39 71 32, e-mail:
kontakt@bethlehem-kirche.de. Bethlehem Church was built in 1875 as a
garrison church. It was intended as a replacement for the dilapidated
worship room within the fortress. The wrong orientation of the altar to
the west and the simple construction are striking: a half-timbered
building, plastered over on the inside, wood paneling on the outside,
which earned the hall church the derisive name of religion shed or
prayer shed in the past; even today, many refer to the church simply as
a wooden church. The entrance porch is crowned by a ridge turret with a
bell, the sound of which, however, has little to do with the church
(Pastor Schorn 1901). From the beginning until 1953, the church was also
used for Catholic services. Today's Bethlehem Church is the only
surviving sacred wooden building from the period after 1870 in
Schleswig-Holstein, an original cultural monument of particular
importance and has been a listed building since 1988. In 1999 the
"Interessengemeinschaft Bethlehem-Kirche e.V." acquired the building.
The non-profit association guarantees the use for church services and
cultural events.
7 Maria-Magdalenen-Kirche (Protestant-Lutheran), Im
Dorfe 1, 24146 Kiel. Tel.: +49 (0)431 78 64 00, fax: +49 (0)431 78 48
03, e-mail: mm@trinitatis-kiel.de. The Maria Magdalenen Church in
Kiel-Elmschenhagen was first built in the 13th century. In the 19th
century the church was severely damaged by lightning. The new building
was completed in 1866. The church in Elmschenhagen is one of the first
places of worship in Schleswig-Holstein to be built in the neo-Gothic
style. Several generous donors not only made the construction possible,
but also the rich furnishings of the Maria Magdalenen Church. The
sanctuary and the organ prospectus were destroyed by aerial bombs in the
Second World War, and in 1949 the church got a used organ again. After
several renovations, the organ was inaugurated on October 30, 1994. The
altar room shows biblical stories from the life of Jesus Christ in the
window paintings.
Kiel Castle. The center of the medieval city was the church, a monastery and a castle - the later Kiel Castle on a hill above the Fördeufer. Later the castle was the widow's seat and secondary residence of the Gottorf dukes. In 1763 Catherine the Great had extensive conversions and renovations carried out. It experienced its last heyday from 1888 to 1918 as the official and residence of Prince Heinrich of Prussia, the brother of Kaiser Wilhelm II. After a bomb attack in 1944, the imposing Renaissance building burned down except for its west wing (Pelli building), which is still preserved today. In 1957 the Kiel Castle was rebuilt and set up as the central cultural center of the state. Today, the striking building is a symbol of the new democratic beginning and the consistently modern reconstruction of Kiel after the Second World War. The extension houses a concert hall and a regional studio of the NDR. Every year around 300 different events with up to 200,000 visitors take place in the palace complex.
Due to the fact that Kiel was repeatedly
the target of Allied bombing raids during World War II, there are not
many old buildings left. Nevertheless, there are some worth seeing, very
nicely rebuilt and restored buildings.
Kiel main station The main
station in Kiel, which has been restored over years of detailed work, is
worth seeing. The first Kiel station was built between 1843 and 1846 at
the Ziegelteich (filled in between 1865 and 1876), around 500 meters
north of the current location. The current location improved access to
the port for road traffic. Construction began in 1895. The old station
was demolished in 1902. In 1944, the main station and the adjoining
magnificent buildings were badly damaged in a heavy Allied bombing raid.
From 1950 the station was rebuilt in a simplified form. In 1999, a
comprehensive renovation of the station began. The redesigned station
forecourt and the reception hall on the side platform with numerous
shops were inaugurated on Kiel Week in June 2004. The Kaiser staircase
in the east was also restored. In 2016, the parking deck above the
central bus station, which was once connected to the train station, was
demolished, and the new building was reopened in October 2019.
Flanders bunker, Kiellinie 249, 24106 Kiel (Kiel-Wik am Hindenburgufer,
entrance to the naval port)). Phone: +49 (0)431 590 72 26, email:
info@kriegszeugen.de. The Flanders Bunker is a high-rise bunker from
World War II that initially only served as a shelter for soldiers and as
an emergency command center, but was opened to civilians at the end of
the war. The walls, which are up to 2m thick and can be seen clearly at
breakthroughs, are particularly impressive. The bunker has been a listed
building since 2004. It takes place through the association "Mahnmal
Kilian e.V." Guided tours take place: on the first Sunday of each month
at 11:30 a.m. (except January). Costs for the tour €2 (reduced €1).
Individual appointments can be arranged for groups and school classes.
Open: Mon - Fri: 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m., Sun: 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.,
during the Kiel week daily 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. 12:00 a.m. Price: €4,
reduced €3.
City Hall, Fleethorn 9, 24103 Kiel. Tel.: +49 (0)431 90
10. Around 1900, the previous town hall on the Alter Markt became too
small for the then rapidly growing naval and shipyard town. Therefore,
from 1907 to 1911, the current town hall with a tower was built in the
suburbs on today's town hall square west of the old town. It was long
referred to as the "New Town Hall". It was completely destroyed in World
War II except for a few vaulted cellars. The city had the town hall,
which is now a listed building, built between 1907 and 1911. Following
the tradition of representative town hall construction, the building has
its own tower. It is designed in the style of a campanile like the St.
Mark's Tower in the lagoon city of Venice. However, the 106m high Kiel
Tower is 7.4m higher than the Markusturm. There is a viewing platform at
a height of 67m. It can be visited as part of a guided tour. An elevator
goes up to the viewing level at a height of 67m. A chime sounds from the
tower every quarter of an hour, which lets you hear another quarter of
the melody until the hour, which is very similar to the ringing of the
bells of the Big Ben clock tower in London or the ringing of the bells
of Copenhagen City Hall.
Opera House, Rathausplatz 4, 24103 Kiel.
Tel.: +49 (0)431 90 19 01, fax: +49 (0)431 90 16 28 70. The Kiel Opera
House is a listed building and venue of the Kiel Theater. The completion
of the brick building with rich sandstone structure and lavishly modeled
roof lasted from 1905 to 1907. On October 1, 1907, the theater was
inaugurated. During the Second World War, Allied air raids severely
destroyed the Stadttheater. The reconstruction - while retaining the
surrounding walls - took place from 1950 to 1953. In the opera house
with around 840 seats there is now a large stage with an area of 400m2,
orchestra pit/proscenium and extensive stage machinery for the music
theater and the Ballet Kiel available. In 1993 the opera house was
entered in the monument book as a cultural monument of particular
importance.
Hörnbrücke (at the main station). The Hörnbrücke connects
the city center with the east bank. It is opened at fixed times and when
required to allow passing ships to pass through. It is only passable for
pedestrians and cyclists. In the early days after its completion in
1997, it was nicknamed the "Klappt-Nix-Bridge" because of its
failure-prone technology.
Lighthouse Kiel-Holtenau. The lighthouse
built in 1895 is considered one of the most beautiful lighthouses in
Germany. The cornerstone with the founding document for the Kaiser
Wilhelm Canal (North-Baltic Sea Canal) is located in the tower
foundation. The Holtenau lighthouse was thoroughly renovated in 1995 for
the 100th anniversary of the Kiel Canal. Today it is surrounded by a
green area, the octagonal base of the brick tower also serves as a
wedding room. It is not open to the public, but can be visited as part
of a guided tour. From the foot of the lighthouse you have an excellent
view of what is happening both in the Kiel Fjord and in the locks.
The 6 Levensau high bridge is a combined railway and road bridge from
the first canal construction period (1894). It is located in the city of
Kiel. Due to its arch geometry, it significantly restricts the passage
width of the canal. In order to enable ships to meet, the NOK is to be
widened in the area of this bottleneck and the bridge is to be replaced
by a new building.
1 Aquarium Geomar, Düsternbrooker Weg 20. Tel.: +49 (0)431 6001637,
fax: +49 (0)431 600 1631, e-mail: aqki1@aquarium-kiel.de. The aquarium's
seal tank can also be viewed from the outside without visiting the
aquarium itself, and is therefore also a small incentive for children to
motivate them to take a walk on the west bank of the fjord. In front of
the aquarium, which is part of the university research institute Geomar,
lies the research ship RV ALKOR. Open: Apr - Sept 9am - 7pm, Oct - Mar
9am - 5pm. Price: adults €3, children €2.
7 Computer Museum, Bunker
Eichenbergskamp, Eichenbergskamp 8. Tel.: +49 (0)431 2101741.
8
Geological and Mineralogical Museum, Ludewig-Meyn-Str. 10-12 Tel.: +49
(0)431 8802693, Fax: +49 (0)431 8804376. Open: Mon - Thu 08:30 - 16:00 &
Fri 08:30 - 14:00. Price: Admission free.
9 Howaldtsche Metal Foundry
Industrial Museum, Grenzstraße 1, 24149 Kiel Neumühlen-Dietrichsdorf.
Tel.: +49 (0)431 3877439 wikipediacommons. Open: Sun 14:00-17:00 (only
in season). Price: adults €2, children €1.
10 Art Gallery in Kiel.
Email: buero@kunsthalle-kiel.de. with antiquities collection. Open:
Tue-Sun: 10am-6pm, Wed: 10am-8pm. Price: €7(€4).
11 State historical
collection of the Schleswig-Holstein State Library, Wall 47/51, 24103
Kiel. Phone: +49 (0)431 6967733, fax: +49 (0)431 69677 11, e-mail:
landesbibliothek@shlb.landsh.de. Open: Mon,Wed,Fri: 09.00-17.00,
Tue,Thu: 09.00-19.00.
12 Machine Museum, Am Kiel-Kanal 44, 24106 Kiel
(bus route 11: Auberg or Wik-Kanal stop, or bus routes
33,91,501/502,900/901 stop Schleusenstraße). Phone: +49 (0)431 5943450 .
The founders of the machine museum want to preserve and present a piece
of Kiel mechanical engineering history. From the filigree functional
model to the heavy steam engine, (almost) all exhibits have been
restored to work. Here you can experience historic power machines in
action and try out for yourself how your own muscle power sets gears in
motion or how sweaty it is to heat up a steam engine and get it going.
Various offers can be made for inquiries under the telephone number 0431
580309. Open: Mon to Fri: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., every 3rd Sunday of the
month: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Price: free of charge. edit info
13 Museum
of Medicine and Pharmacy History, Brunswiker Strasse 2, 24105 Kiel.
Tel.: +49 (0)431 880 57 21, email: medmuseum@med-hist.uni-kiel.de. The
medical and pharmaceutical history collection is part of the Christian
Albrechts University in Kiel and at the same time a museum for the
history of medicine and pharmacies.
14 Maritime Museum, Wall 65,
24103 Kiel. Tel.: +49 (0)431 9013428, email:
Stadt-undSchiffahrtsmuseum@kiel.de.
15 City Gallery,
Andreas-Gayk-Strasse 31, 24103 Kiel. Tel.: +49 (0)431 901 34 00, email:
stadtgalerie@kiel.de . The Stadtgalerie Kiel was founded in 1988 and
presents exhibitions on international art from the Baltic Sea region, on
national and regional contemporary art in thematic contexts. In
addition, the Heinrich Ehmsen Foundation offers a permanent exhibition
with an overview of the paintings and graphic works of the expressionist
artist Heinrich Ehmsen (1886 - 1964), who was born in Kiel.
16 City
Museum in the Warleberger Hof, Dänische Strasse 19, 24103 Kiel. Tel.:
+49 (0)431 901 34 25, e-mail: Stadt-undSchifffahrtsmuseum@kiel.de.
Changing special exhibitions with objects from the extensive museum
collection illuminate the art, culture and history of the city in the
19th and 20th centuries. They complement the permanent exhibition on the
city's maritime history in the Maritime Museum in the Fish Hall. There
is also a small exhibition on the older town history in the historic
vaulted cellar of the Warleberger Hof.
17 Ethnological Museum,
Hegewischstrasse 3. Tel.: +49 (0)431 5974000.
18 Zoological Museum,
Hegewischstrasse 3. Price: Admission: adults €4,
children €2, biology students free.
19 Open-air museum Molfsee,
Hamburger Landstraße 97, 24113 Molfsee (south of the city, about 7 km
from the city center). Phone: +49 (0)431 659660, email:
service@schloss-gottorf.de. The open-air museum in Molfsee is the
largest open-air museum in northern Germany. Changing special
exhibitions and seasonal markets complete the program during the season.
The open-air museum sees itself as a family-friendly museum. On the
extensive grounds with more than 70 historic buildings from different
regions between the North and Baltic Seas, visitors can immerse
themselves in the rural life of bygone times. In several courtyards and
barns, exhibitions provide information on individual topics. Report with
video of the NDR
You can enjoy maritime flair on a walk along the Kiellinie. There you
will also find the Kiel Aquarium, in which mainly native sea fish can be
seen. The outdoor seal pool is popular. Windjammers and traditional
sailing ships such as the Gorch Fock also tie up at various points along
the Kiel line, especially during Kiel Week.
Until 1846, the Kleine
Kiel formed a continuous side arm of the Kiel Fjord with today's Kiel
boat harbor. Then the connection between the Kiel boat harbor and the
Kiel Förde was narrowed and provided with a bridge. In 1904, the Holsten
Bridge at the interface between Kleiner Kiel and the Kiel boat harbor
was demolished and the water connection was filled in except for a 230
meter long connecting pipe. In 1982, the connection between the Kiel
boat harbor and the Kiel Förde was also filled in over a wide area,
except for a 150 meter long connecting pipe. In 2008 the idea came up to
restore this historic water connection in the heart of the city. After
public discussion and planning, construction began in 2017, and
completion is planned for the end of 2019. The Small Kiel Canal is
intended to revitalize the city center and ensure a better quality of
stay.
The Kiel-Holtenau locks of the Kiel Canal can be observed
very well from a barrier-free viewing platform. Immediately next to it
is a mobile home parking space with an excellent view of what is
happening in the locks and on the Kiel Fjord up to the Tirpitzhafen with
the naval ships.
The two small lock chambers on the north side
have been closed since 2014 due to their structural condition. They are
to be replaced by new buildings. As a first step, the two lock chambers
were filled with sand in 2019 and thus stabilized. Construction work is
expected to last until 2026. Details.
In the Kiel Canal exhibition
(access from the Holtenau side) there is history to touch. The entire
lock system offers a lot to see.
The lock systems in Wik can be
easily reached with bus stop 11 in just under 30 minutes from the main
train station. From there you can take the small passenger ferry "ADLER
1" for free (also with bicycles) and reach the Tiessenkai after almost
1000m.
The Tiessenkai was not only the port of protection and
safety of the Kiel Canal, it is perhaps the most maritime corner of
Kiel. The quay was named in 1976 after the former ship chandler "Hermann
Tiessen". The "Schiffercafé" and "Kombüse" are now located in its former
rooms. Adjacent, the 3-storey "canal packing house" is reminiscent of
the time when goods were transshipped in Kiel-Holtenau. Today it houses
apartments and the Hafenwirtschaft restaurant. Traditional sailing ships
often moor at the Tiessenkai in summer. The Kiel-Holtenau lighthouse
towers at the eastern end of the Tiessenkai.
Botanical
Garden, Düsternbrooker Weg 19. Tel.: +49 (0)431 568286 .
Schreven
Park
Forest Nursery
Hiroshima Park
Various
There are
two animal parks in the vicinity of Kiel:
Schwentinental
wildlife park, Theodor-Storm-Platz 1, 24223 Schwentinental. Tel.: +49
(0)4307 8110, fax: +49 (0)4307 811201, e-mail:
info@stadt-schwentinental.de. 40 hectares of the most beautiful
recreation area, more than 400 animals of many native species, large
adventure playground with kiosk, free parking. Open: wildlife park:
daily sunrise to sunset, petting zoo: daily: 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Price: free.
Gettorf Zoo, Süderstr. 33, 24214 Gettorf. Tel.: +49
(0)4346 416 00, fax: +49 (0)4346 41 60 60, e-mail:
info@tierparkgettorf.de. Family business for over 40 years, particularly
diverse exotic animal life, with zoo café and barbecue/picnic areas.
Feature: No dogs allowed. Open: Mar-Oct: 09:00-18:00, Nov-Feb:
10:00-16:00. Price: Adults €13/€11, children (2-17 years) €10/€8,
families (2+2) €44.
Camp 24/7, Camp 24/7, Kielline, 24103 Kiel (stops 41/42 and 51, stop: Reventloubrücke). Tel.: +49 (0)431 9012573, +49 (0)431 2400070 (May-September), email: info@camp24-7.de. Kiel advertises with the slogan Sailing.City. Of course, sailing should not be neglected. Camp 24/7 offers an ideal opportunity for this. Both "trial sailing for everyone" and an extensive kids' program enable everyone to sail. All children, young people, adults and tourists interested in water sports can take part, alone, in groups or with the family. No previous knowledge is necessary. The camp is a social, public and non-commercial project. The instructions are provided by professional sailing trainers. Open: 24/7, May-September.
In Kiel itself, the
Falkensteiner beach is the most popular, at around 2.5 km it is the
longest beach in Kiel, 1,860 m of which is a guarded bathing beach. Fine
sandy beach with breathtaking views of the most beautiful cruise liners,
ferries and cargo ships that pass close enough to touch. There is not
only a 300m long dog beach, but also toilet buildings, a
wheelchair-accessible jetty, snack bar, children's playground, mini golf
and barbecue area. Parking spaces are about 300m away. Accessibility by
public transport: bus line 502 (bus stop "An der Schanze"), after a
short walk with the beach bus shuttle service to the beach. In summer
also by fjord ship to the Falckenstein ferry terminal.
The Schilksee
beach is guarded over a length of 830m, another 370m is an unguarded
nudist area, offers a fine sandy beach, kiosk and toilet, beach chair
and pedal boat rental. Parking spaces are available at the Olympic
Center, but are very scarce in good weather. In Schilksee there is also
the Schilksee swimming pool.
In the vicinity of Kiel there are some
very beautiful beaches, especially Laboe, Stein and Schönberger Strand.
A museum train occasionally runs to Schönberger Strand at weekends.
Heikendorf beach is frequented by both tourists and locals, but the
municipality of Heikendorf charges a tourist tax.
Hörnbad (sports, fitness and family pool), Anni-Wadle-Weg 1, 24143 Kiel. Tel.: +49 (0)431 9011420, fax: +49 (0)431 9011490, e-mail: info@kieler-baeder.de. Combination pool with sports pool (with eight 50-meter lanes), outdoor pool, teaching pool, leisure pool, 70m adventure slide, warm whirlpool, wellness area with four themed saunas. Feature: wheelchair accessible. Open: Sports area: Mon-Fri 06:00-21:00, Sat 08:00-21:00, Sun 08:00-20:00 / Leisure area: Mon-Sat 10:00-21:00, Sun 10:00 -20:00. Price: 2.5 hours/day ticket: adults €6.70/€12.00, children b. 17 years €3.30/€7.00.
Seebadeanstalt Düsternbrook, Kiellinie 130, 24105 Kiel (very
easy to reach by public transport (bus stop Bellevue)). Phone: +49
(0)431 34185, fax: +49 (0)431 2201940, email:
info@seebad-duesternbrook.com. Sea bathing establishment built entirely
on a jetty. Open: 28.03.-23.10.: daily from 10.00 a.m. - 11.00 p.m.,
bathing: 15.06.-15.09.2014, daily from 10.00 a.m. - 7.00 p.m. Price:
adults €2.80, children €1.80.
Seebadeanstalt Holtenau, Holtenauer
Reede, 24159 Kiel (Near the locks of the Kiel Canal in Holtenau). Email:
info@seebad-holtenau.de commons. Sea bathing establishment built
entirely on a jetty, without a beach, sponsor: Friends of the sea
bathing establishment.
Eiderbad Hammer (outdoor pool with a family
atmosphere), Eiderbrook, 24113 Kiel. The Eiderbad is run by the
Drachensee Foundation, people with disabilities have a job here in the
summer months. The Eiderbad Hammer is a sun-warmed outdoor pool with a
family atmosphere in an idyllic location directly on the Eider. There is
a swimming pool (15 x 30 m), paddling pool and 9000 square meters of
sunbathing area with a kiosk.
Bathing jetty in the fjord (sailing
camp 24/7), Camp 24/7, Kielline, 24103 Kiel (stops 41/42 and 51, stop:
Reventloubrücke). Floating dock at the keel line. Kiel Marketing, as the
operator of the camp, ensures that the swimming pool is monitored to the
extent required and provides toilets, for example. There are no
conflicts with shipping at the newly created bathing area.
Sommerbad
Katzheide, Von-der-Gröben-Straße, 24143 Kiel (stops 22, 101 and 71, stop
Stoschstraße). Phone: +49 (0)431 732423. The swimming pool will be
renewed with a stainless steel pool with 6 lanes of 25 m each, 2 lanes
of 50 m each and a bathing zone from 0 to 1.35 m deep.
North of the Kiel Canal is the 11 swimming pool Schilksee, Drachenbahn 18, 24159 Kiel (stop 33, 501, 502, 901 (stop Olympiazentrum)). Tel.: +49 (0)431 260 404 41, fax: +49 (0)431 260 404 4, e-mail: info@kieler-baeder.de. Sports and health pool in the former Olympic pool, swimming pool with five 25-metre lanes, children's pool, parking spaces at the Olympic center. The swimming pool is currently closed due to upcoming renovation work.
There are several cinemas in Kiel. The
largest, with ten cinemas, is the CinemaxX, which can be found at the
main station.
The studio at Dreiecksplatz has three halls. Like the
CinemaxX, the studio also shows current films.
The Metro cinema,
which reopened in 2006, is on Holtenauer Strasse.
The municipal
cinema is located in the event center pump in Hassstrasse (old town).
Traum GmbH (formerly Traumfabrik) on Grasweg in the north-west of the
city also has a cinema that shows non-mainstream films.
The Veggie-Stammtisch Kiel is a group of people of mixed ages who eat vegan and vegetarian food and takes place every first Tuesday of the month in the Subrosa at 6 p.m.
The Kiel
transhipment takes place at the end of February/beginning of March.
Today's folk festival has its historical roots in the middle of the 15th
century, when it was founded as a money and free market. Today, in
addition to numerous gastronomic offers and rides, the medieval market
is the focus of events.
The day at the quay (TAK) is a happy harbor
festival at the Tiessenkai in Kiel-Holtenau and shows how culture,
leisure, economy and science belong together in the sea-coast habitat.
It is an integral part of the cultural offerings in the Kiel-Holtenau
district and traditionally takes place at the beginning of June, always
2 weeks before Kiel Week.
At the end of June, the Kiel Week draws
crowds into the city and to the fjord for what is certainly the most
important event in the course of the year in Kiel. The Kiel Week is the
largest sailing event in the world. In addition to numerous sailing
competitions, the traditional windjammer parade and the naval cutter
regatta ensure special moments around the Kiel Fjord, which is
transformed into a public festival for the week.
In July and August,
culture is at the forefront of events in Kiel at the Kiel Summer of
Culture.
At the same time, of course, there are also events taking
place in Kiel as part of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, which is
well-known far beyond the state borders.
At the beginning of October,
culinary delights and rural products are on the program at the Kiel
farmers' and regional market.
1 Sophienhof. opposite the train station, shopping center with
various shops and restaurants.
2 Holstenstrasse. It leads from the
Sophienhof to the Alter Markt and also offers a wide variety of shops.
3 Danish street in the old town. It offers some shopping opportunities
for the well-off.
4 Holtenauer Strasse. Some high-end shops between
Dreiecksplatz and Waitzstraße.
5 Ostseepark in Raisdorf. southeast of
Kiel, commercial area and - according to the municipality of Raisdorf -
the largest shopping center in Germany. Among other things, several
hardware stores, furniture stores, fashion and shoe stores, MediaMarkt
and real are located there.
6 Citti Park. at the Kiel motorway exit,
is home to a large arcade with shops.
7 Ikea. There has been an Ikea
branch near Citti Park since 2002.
Kiel is a university city. Therefore, the range of pizzerias and
snack bars (kebabs / burgers) is very large.
Cheap
At the
Kitty Rock Belly Full on Gutenbergstr. 66 has very good quality burgers
for €3-9; also suitable for vegetarians and vegans.
In the Subrosa on
Elisabethstraße there are warm dishes for 3 - 10€ in good quality; also
suitable for vegetarians and vegans.
Middle
1 Henry VIII,
Holtenauer Str. 142, 24105 Kiel. Phone: +49 (0)431 818 76, email:
info@heinrich-der-achte.de. Mixed clientele, student discounts and
promotions. Pizza, meat dishes of good but not outstanding quality.
Open: Sun – Thu: 11.30 a.m. – 1.00 a.m., Fri – Sat: 11.30 a.m. – 2.00
a.m. and Sunday brunch from 10.00 a.m.
2 Restaurant and Park-Café
Forstbaumschule, Düvelsbeker Weg 46, 24105 Kiel. Tel.: +49 (0)431
333496, fax: +49 (0)431 337 960, e-mail: info@forstbaumschule.de.
Located in a park in the Düsternbrook district, the Forstbaumschule
restaurant offers good food at reasonable prices. It is also a popular
destination for the people of Kiel. The forest tree nursery is one of
the most beautiful beer gardens in Schleswig-Holstein. Many music events
take place here from May to September. Open: Opening hours: daily from
10 a.m. to 1 a.m.
3 Ratskeller, Fleethorn 9-11, 24103 Kiel. Tel.: +49
(0)431 9710005, fax: +49 (0)431 9710503, e-mail:
info@ratskeller-kiel.de, reservierung@ratskeller-kiel.de. Holstein,
German and international dishes. Open: 11:30 a.m. - 9:30 p.m., Fri. +
Sat. until 10:30 p.m.
SEEBAR (the only bar in Kiel on the water),
Kiellinie 130, 24106 Kiel. Phone: +49 (0)431 34185, fax: +49 (0)431
2201940, email: info@seebad-duesternbrook.com. The SEEBAR is located
directly on the Kiel Fjord. It is the ideal place in the Nordic summer
to relax on one of the deck chairs with a well-chilled drink and to
enjoy the great view of the Baltic Sea. The After Work Club is held
every Thursday from 7 p.m. Open: from 10:00 to ??.
4 Schiffercafé
Kiel + Kombüse (traditional pubs on Tiessenkai), Tiessenkai 9, 24159
Kiel (on Tiessenkai/Holtenau). Tel.: +49 (0)431 9089676 (Schiffercafé),
+49 (0)431 9089173 (galley), email: info@schiffercafe-kiel.de. The
"Schiffercafe" and the fish restaurant "Kombüse" are located in the
former rooms of the ship chandler Hermann Tiessen. In both restaurants,
seasonal and regionally grown products are freshly prepared. Rustic
pubs, directly at the locks of the Kiel Canal, with a wonderful view of
the incoming and outgoing ships from a great terrace. Open: daily from
09:00
5 Hafenwirtschaft, Kanalstrasse 65, 24159 Kiel (in Holtenau am
Tiessenkai). Phone: +49 (0)431 90896715, email:
info@hafenwirtschaft-holtenau.de. With its 270-year-old walls, the
Kanalpackhaus is one of the most remarkable buildings in Kiel, not only
because of its structure, but also because of its historical
significance. As a warehouse on the old canal, it was the first notable
commercial building for merchant seafaring - the port economy - in Kiel.
The steel wall at the entrance is reminiscent of the huge rusty steel
hulls of the shells at the shipyards in Kiel. The helmets are
reminiscent of the workers at the shipyards, the bar area in the port
economy is the heart of every port pub. The terrace directly on the quay
is open when the weather is nice. Open: Tue-Fri: 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. +
from 5:00 p.m. / Sat+Sun: from 11:30 a.m.
6 Lucifer Foerdeblick,
Kanalstrasse 85, 24159 Kiel. Tel.: +49 (0)431 32097424. Located directly
on the fjord in Holtenau, with a view of the Kiel fjord and the locks of
the Kiel Canal, of passing sailing boats, yachts, passenger and cargo
ships. The menu offers "coastal cuisine" through regionality and
seasonality. Baked goods come from our own bakery, coffee and espresso
are roasted in-house, and the beer comes from our own brewery. Open:
daily from 09:00.
7 Margaretental, Alte Chaussee 40, 24107 Kiel
OT-Suchsdorf. Tel.: +49 (0)431 12873705, e-mail: post@margaretental.de
facebookinstagram. Very nicely located excursion restaurant with a large
terrace directly on the slope with a view of the Kiel Canal. Features:
terrace, regional cuisine. Open: Tue-Fri 3pm-10pm, Sat 11am-10pm, Sun
11am-5pm.
Upscale
In the Drahtenhof, near the open-air museum
in Molfsee, typical Holstein dishes are served.
The Weinstein on
Holtenauer Strasse, very nice staff and delicious food.
The pump event center on Haßstraße is best known for its concerts,
but there are also various parties, including electro, metal and gay
parties, especially on weekends. There is also a pub.
The Kiel
brewery is located on the Alter Markt. The beer brewed there is not
available anywhere else! You can also take a look at the work of brewing
beer there.
The Tucholsky-Center on Bergstraße is probably the most
famous nightclub in Kiel and the only one that is open every day. The
discotheque center consists of four clubs in which different music is
played: the Tucholsky itself plays a mix of rock and pop music, the T2
rock and metal, the Böll and the newly opened T3 play black music. The
Voltaire pub restaurant (with free Internet access) and a snack bar also
belong to the Tucholsky Center. In terms of presentation, the Tucholsky
is anything but a noble disco and therefore not necessarily recommended
to everyone. The clientele is mixed, most of the guests are between 18
and 30 years old.
In the Traum GmbH, an event center in Grasweg in
the northwest of the city, concerts and various parties take place
regularly at the weekend. There is also a cinema that shows
non-mainstream films.
At the Alter Markt there is the cocktail bar
Mango's, which has a Cuban design. In addition to drinks, there are also
American, Texan and Mexican dishes.
The piano and cocktail bar
Chaplin's in the Waisenhofstraße is an insider tip: Upscale ambience,
but very reasonable prices.
The Cafè Prinz Willy on Lutherstraße
offers concerts and of course coffee several nights a week, all at
reasonable prices.
Camping
There are no camping facilities in the direct city area of
Kiel. However, there are in the vicinity
on the west bank:
1
camper place. directly at the lock of the Kiel Canal with an excellent
view of the incoming and outgoing ships and the Kiel Fjord.
2 RV
park, Soling 26, 24159 Kiel. Phone: +49 (0)431 26048421, email:
schilksee@sporthafen-kiel.de. Paid parking space with electricity and
supply and disposal for 30 mobile homes on the outskirts of Schilksee.
Price: €12 per night including electricity.
3 Kiel-Falckenstein
campsite
on the east bank:
4 campsite Möltenort
5 camper
place. Mobile home space at the naval memorial Paid parking space for 18
mobile homes with supply and disposal (no electricity) on the outskirts
of Laboe
6 Neustein campsite, Stein.
7 Camping-Foerdeblick, Stein.
8 Ostsee-Camp Kliff, Stein.
Cheap
9 Kiel Youth Hostel,
Johannesstr. 1, 24143 Kiel (900m from the main train station, in the
district of Gaarden, it is connected to the Hörn by a long staircase
with a bridge.). Tel.: +49 (0)431 731488, fax: +49 (0)431 735723,
e-mail: kiel@jugendherberge.de. Large youth hostel with 261 beds in
modern 1-, 2- and 4-bed rooms. Feature: wheelchair accessible. Open: all
year except Christmas. Price: from €25.50.
10 Peanuts Hostel. Phone:
+49 (0)431 3642208.
Upscale
11 Ringhotel Birke, Martenshofweg
2-8. Tel.: +49 (0)431 53310, fax: +49 (0)431 5331333, e-mail:
info@hotel-birke.de. Upscale wellness hotel with restaurant Fischers
Fritz in the district of Hasseldiecksdamm. Feature: ★★★★★.
12
ATLANTIC Hotel Kiel, Raiffeisenstrasse 2, 24103 Kiel (opposite the main
train station). Phone: +49 (0)431 374990, fax: +49 (0)431 37499-500,
email: kiel@atlantic-hotels.de. Central location directly on the fjord,
panoramic bar with a view over the fjord, fitness and sauna area,
first-class gastronomy with typical regional specialties. Feature:
★★★★★. Price: Double room from €129/night.
Kiel is a relatively safe city. In the districts of Gaarden and
Mettenhof, women and anxious people should not stay at night without
someone who knows the area, as street crime is particularly high here.
In the Bergstraße and at the harbor there are occasional fights and
knife fights by drunken pub and disco visitors.
During the Kieler
Woche, special attention should be paid to pickpockets.
The municipal hospital is located near Wilhelmplatz. A doctor
(general medicine) can also be consulted there on weekends and public
holidays.
City Hospital Kiel (acute hospital), Chemnitzstraße 33,
24116 Kiel. Tel.: +49 (0)431 169 70, fax: +49 (0)431 16 97 41 31,
e-mail: info@krankenhaus-kiel.de . The Kiel City Hospital is also
available outside of the office hours of the resident doctors with an
emergency outpatient clinic. In an emergency, the responsible outpatient
clinics can also be reached directly by telephone: Surgical outpatient
clinic: +49 (0)431 1697 3120 / Internal admissions station: +49 (0)431
1697 3110
Schleswig-Holstein University Hospital (UKSH),
Arnold-Heller-Strasse 3, 24105 Kiel. Phone: +49 (0)431 50 00, +49 (0)451
50 00, email: info@uksh.de . The Schleswig-Holstein University Hospital
in Kiel has several emergency departments. This also leads to different
approaches. Details: Last in an emergency
The tourist information is located in the new town hall, approx. 300
meters from the train station (bus stop Andreas-Gayk-Straße or
Ziegelteich).
There are a few internet cafes in Kiel. The Rainforest
on Bergstraße is relatively centrally located (open from 10 a.m. to 4
a.m.). In the neighboring Tucholsky-Center discotheque, you can use the
internet free of charge in the evenings. Admission is free during the
week!
The Kiel region extends in a horseshoe shape around the natural harbor of Kieler Förde, which is an important seaport on the Baltic Sea. The northernmost part of Kiel, Schilksee, lies on the open Baltic Sea. The watershed between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea runs through Kiel. The river Eider, which flows into the North Sea, touches the urban area, as does the Schwentine. At the end of the Kiel Canal in the district of Kiel-Holtenau are the locks facing the fjord. The area surrounding Kiel is characterized by moraine hills and merges into Holstein Switzerland in the south-east.
The following municipalities border the city of Kiel (they are listed
clockwise, starting in the north-east on the east coast of the Kiel
Fjord):
Plön district: Mönkeberg and Schönkirchen (Schrevenborn
district), the town of Schwentinental as well as Pohnsdorf, Honigsee and
Boksee (all Preetz-Land district)
Rendsburg-Eckernförde district:
Flintbek (Flintbek office), Molfsee and Mielkendorf (Molfsee office),
Melsdorf and Ottendorf (Achterwehr office), Kronshagen (independent
municipality), Neuwittenbek and Felm (Danischer Wohld office), Altenholz
(independent municipality), Dänischenhagen and Strande (Danish Hagen
Office)
Around 325,000 people live in the Kiel metropolitan area
(agglomeration).
The city of Kiel is now divided
into 30 districts. Usually one or more districts together form one of
the 18 districts, each with a local advisory board. These bodies are
re-determined by the council (municipal council) of the entire city
after each municipal election and are to be heard on important matters
affecting the district. You can submit applications that affect the
district to the council meeting, so that they can be discussed or
decided there.
The districts with their assigned districts and
their official number:
Kiel is located in the temperate climate zone. The summer is usually cool to mild, and the winter is maritime and rather mild for the northern location. The greatest amount of precipitation falls in July (79 mm). Compared to the national average (790 mm), annual precipitation is slightly below average at 750 mm. The average annual temperature is 9.5 °C. The temperature record is 35.8 °C on July 20, 2022.
There are tides in the Baltic Sea whose tidal range in Kiel is only
around 0.1 m. Floods in Kiel are regularly caused by wind:
In
Kiel, HW5, i.e. a flood that is only expected every 5 years, i.e. with
an 80% probability of not being reached in every year, is 1.45 m, HW10
1.65 m, HW20 1.84 m, HW50 2.08 m, HW100 (expected every 100 years, will
not be reached with a probability of 99% in every year) is 2.27 m in
Kiel, the HW200 at 2.36 m. The calculation of HW1000, i.e. one every
1000 years, based on various databases, results in a 95% interval of
2.1–3.6 m above sea level.
The Baltic Sea storm flood of 1872 was
probably the most severe storm flood in Kiel with a water level of 2.97
m above sea level at the gauge in Kiel-Holtenau.
A very severe
storm surge (more than 2 m) with 2.25 m last occurred in Kiel on
December 31, 1904. In relation to today's conditions and taking into
account a secular sea level rise of 0.15 m that has occurred since then,
this corresponds to a return interval of about 400 years (annual
frequency = 0.0025). This is the highest water level ever measured at
the Holtenau gauge. Data has been collected here without gaps since
1901. Before that, as mentioned above, on November 13, 1872 with 2.97 m.
A severe storm surge (more than 1.5 m) occurred every 6 years on
average, most recently with +1.67 m on January 2, 2019, and before that
on January 4, 2017. Historically very severe in other parts of the
Baltic Sea, in Kiel but only severely were the storm surges of January
9, 1908 and January 4, 1954.
A medium storm surge (1.25-1.5 m)
last occurred on January 31, 2022, on March 28, 2020, on January 6, 2012
before that on November 29, 2010, January 9, 2010 and October 14, 2009 .
For example, a mild storm surge (1–1.25 m above mean water level)
occurred in January and December 2021, October 14, 2020, January 9,
2019, November 22, 2015, January 14, 2012, December 24, 2010 and on
December 12, 2010.
In the period 1901-1993, 115 storm surges
occurred at the Kiel gauge, 63 of them light, 32 medium and 20 heavy.
Particularly low water levels, storm low water, at least 1 m below
sea level, occur again and again, in the last ten years on December 6,
2013 with −1.68 m, December 10, 2014 −1.20 m, September 14, 2017 − 1.09
m (each measured in Kiel-Holtenau).
The historically lowest water
levels were −2.29 m on October 4, 1860, −1.9 m on November 6, 1911, −188
cm on December 4, 1999, −183 cm on November 25, 1981.
In the
period 1901-1990 there were 104 low storm waters at the Kiel gauge, 59
of them light (1-1.25 m), 30 medium (1.25-1.5 m), 15 severe (more than
1.5 m below sea level) .
A very strong water level fluctuation of
around 3 m within 24 hours at the Kiel-Holtenau gauge station occurred
on December 20, 2001. The fluctuation from an average storm high water
(almost +1.5 m) to an average storm low tide (almost −1.5 m) was
triggered by a change in wind direction from NE to SW in the central
Baltic Sea.
Level places
As of September 1, 1984, the
Kiel-Holtenau gauge is the successor to the Kiel (Seegarten) gauge. The
level at the Friedrichsort lighthouse was set on November 1, 1987.
There are publicly visible gauges (1) at the Sartori & Berger
warehouse in the street Am Wall, but here the lowest indicated gauge is
6.25 m and thus 1.25 m above mean sea level; on average, this level only
shows a water level every two years; the upper level of 8.45 m has never
been reached; (2) also at the northern end of Kiel between
Kiel-Schilksee and Strande at the outflow of the Fuhlensee into the
Baltic Sea, here the level can be read up to 6.45 m, i.e. 1.45 m above
mean sea level, this level is about every two years completely under
water.
stone meteorite
In 1962, a type L6 stony meteorite
weighing 738 grams fell in the city of Kiel. He smashed through the roof
of a house and ended up in the attic, where the resident found him.
Since the subjugation of the Saxons by Charlemagne, the area on the Kiel Fjord first belonged to the Frankish Empire and then to Holstein. Kiel was founded between 1233 and 1242 by Adolf IV (Schauenburg and Holstein), who had only recently regained control of the county that had been temporarily lost to Denmark. There was probably a merchant settlement at this point a long time before 1233. But the Franconian-Saxon territory only touched the Baltic Sea near Kiel - north of the Levensau lay Schleswig and thus Danish territory, east of the Schwentine behind the Limes Saxoniae lay Wagria and thus Slavic territory, which at that time was not yet firmly in the hands of the Holstein counts was. Therefore, this place on the fjord was the only possibility for a Saxon or Holstein Baltic Sea port. As such, Kiel was planned to be one of the northernmost cities in the Holy Roman Empire. At the same time, Count Adolf donated the Franciscan monastery, where he spent his twilight years after joining the Franciscan order and being ordained a priest. In 1242, Kiel received Lübeck city rights. The first city books, which initially spread to northern Germany, date from this period.
The original city name was Holstenstadt
tom Kyle (roughly "Holsteinstadt an der Förde"). The y in the old
name is a long /i/. In everyday usage, the name was shortened to tom
Kyle and finally to Kiel. Kiel (Low German "wedge") most likely
means the fjord, a sea bay that cuts far into the country. A Nordic
origin is also conceivable (Old Norse kíll "narrow bay").
Historically, Kiel was also referred to by its Latin name, Chilonium
(pronounced "Kielonium").
In the Middle
Ages, Kiel's long-distance trade lagged far behind that of other
Baltic Sea ports such as Lübeck, Flensburg, Stralsund, Rostock and
Wismar. Although the city entered the Hanseatic League in 1283/1284,
it only rarely took part in joint activities and was also hardly
able to use the trading privileges: the sovereign influence on trade
was stronger here than in the free cities. The castle was pledged to
Hans Schackssohn von Rantzau from 1465 to 1469, the town and castle
were pledged to the Free Hanseatic City of Lübeck from 1469 to 1496,
which limited the city's economic opportunities. All of these
disadvantages eventually led to expulsion from the Hanseatic League
in 1554, especially as Kiel was accused of harboring pirates.
Economically more important for the city than membership in the
Hanseatic League was the Kieler envelope, which was first mentioned
in 1469 but probably existed much longer. For a week (from January
6th to 14th) money transactions were carried out here, especially by
the nobility and merchants. Interested parties came from all over
the country for this. A folk festival was then celebrated, which has
been held once a year since 1975.
In 1301 Kiel was already
fortified. The sovereigns, the Schauenburg Counts of Holstein and
Stormarn, had built a castle. From 1329 the city was surrounded by a
stone city wall. At that time, Kiel had nine city gates: Holstentor
(Holsteintor), Kütertor (Küter=offal butcher), Hasstor, Danish Gate,
Kattentor, Fischertor, Flemish Gate, Schumachertor and Pfaffentor.
Until the late 16th century, the populated area was largely limited
to the small old town. In addition to the Franciscan monastery,
there was only one church, the Nikolaikirche, which was completed
around 1240.
Since 1460, Kiel was
governed by the Danish king in his capacity as Duke of Holstein (see
personal union), so constitutionally it remained a part of the Holy
Roman Empire of the German Nation, not Denmark. The Reformation
began in Kiel in 1526, when the son of a citizen of Kiel, Marquard
Schuldorp, who had studied with Martin Luther in Wittenberg, took up
his position as vicar. In 1527 Friedrich I invited Melchior Hofmann
to Kiel as a lay preacher. Hofmann's teaching of the Lord's Supper,
according to which bread and wine signify only Christ's body,
contradicted the Lutheran position that Christ is present in the
sacrament. Hofmann and Schuldorp are said to have even fought in the
pulpit. 1529 Hofmann and his followers were after the Flensburg
Disputation before Crown Prince Christian III. expelled from the
country in Flensburg's St. Catherine's Monastery. Kiel received a
new church order. The Franciscan monastery was dissolved and the
building was given to the city, which used it as a school and later
as a hospital.
In the witch hunts in the city of Kiel from
1530 to 1676, 32 people were affected. At least 25 people were
executed in witch trials, including Trinke Preetzen and her father,
Hinrich Busch.
Since the division of the duchies of Schleswig
and Holstein between the Danish King Christian III. and his
brothers, Dukes Adolf and Johann, in 1544, Kiel belonged to the
ducal share, the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf. During the
16th and early 17th centuries the dukes were able to gradually
abolish the older privileges of some cities; so Kiel was forced when
Duke Friedrich III came to power. to take a special oath of homage
that reduced the formerly "privileged city" to the status of a
hereditary subject body.
In 1665, Duke Christian Albrecht von
Gottorf founded the Christian-Albrechts-University, the northernmost
university in the Roman-German Empire, in the building of the former
Kiel monastery. The university originally had theological, law,
medical and philosophical faculties and soon moved to its own
buildings. The citizens of Kiel were initially not very
enthusiastic, because the city not only had to provide the
buildings, but also had to put up with the often boorish students -
in 1700 there were over 300 in a population of just under 4000
people - who, like the other members of the university, had to
endure not subject to municipal jurisdiction. In addition, the
university lecturers paid no taxes. Nevertheless, Kiel benefited
economically from the university, where important scholars were soon
working.
After the Gottorf dukes lost their possessions in
Schleswig in 1721, Kiel became the capital and residence of the
remaining territory for half a century. In 1728 the later Russian
Tsar Peter III was buried in Kiel Castle. born as the son of Duke
Karl Friedrich of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf. As Tsar, Peter planned
a campaign against Denmark; only his early death saved Kiel and the
Elbe duchies from another war.
In 1773, Peter's widow, Tsarina Catherine the Great, left
the remainder of Gottorf's shares in Holstein and thus also in Kiel
to the Danish king. From then on he ruled the city again in his
capacity as Duke of Holstein; Under constitutional law, Kiel
therefore continued to belong to Germany, not to Denmark. The
university experienced a significant boom; In 1803 Germany's first
botanical garden was opened in Kiel.
After the end of the
Holy Roman Empire in 1806, Kiel and Holstein became constitutionally
part of Denmark for nine years. During the coalition wars, Kiel was
taken by the Swedes in the "Cossack Winter" of 1813; The Peace of
Kiel was signed in 1814: the Duchy of Holstein continued to be ruled
by the Danish king, and in 1815 it became a member of the German
Confederation. Thus, formally, Kiel once again belonged to Germany.
In 1817, Kiel students took part in the Wartburg festival. In the
years that followed, Kiel University became a center of the
fraternity movement. It was not without reason that Uwe Jens
Lornsen, a member of the original fraternity and a graduate of the
University of Kiel, chose Kiel as the place where he published On
the Constitutional Work in Schleswig-Holstein, one of the most
influential pamphlets of the Vormärz period. He was supported by
Franz Hermann Hegewisch, who later became one of the most important
propagators of the railway connection with Altona.
In 1838
the mechanical engineering company Schweffel and Howaldt was
founded; this was Kiel's first major industrial operation, which
later became the Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft shipyard. With the
construction of the railway line to Altona (King Christian VIII
Baltic Sea Railway), the Baltic Sea port of Kiel was connected to
the Elbe and the North Sea in 1844. The first submarine in the
world, the Brandtaucher, was built in Kiel in 1850.
A
provisional Schleswig-Holstein government was constituted in Kiel in
1848. The attempt to break away from the state as a whole and to
become a sovereign member of the German Confederation failed.
But in 1864 Schleswig-Holstein was conquered
by Prussia and Austria in the German-Danish War; Kiel was initially
administered jointly by Prussia and Austria. In 1865, the Prussian
king ordered the Baltic Sea naval station to be relocated from
Danzig to Kiel. Austria and Prussia agreed on August 14, 1865 in the
Gastein Convention to build a federal fleet and to make Kiel a
federal port. This plan was not realized because of the German war
in 1866; nevertheless, from this point on, Kiel rapidly developed
into a major city.
In 1867 Kiel became part of the province
of Schleswig-Holstein in the Kingdom of Prussia and a naval port in
the Prussian-majority Navy of the North German Confederation. The
artillery depot (from 1891 Imperial Torpedo Workshop) was set up in
Friedrichsort; here, among other things, oversea and undersea
weapons were developed. In the same year, the Norddeutsche
Schiffbaugesellschaft (from 1882 Germania shipyard) was the second
major shipbuilding company in Kiel, after Schweffel & Howaldt. The
city became the seat of the district of Kiel, which was made up of
the offices of Bordesholm, Kronshagen, Kiel and Neumünster.
With the founding of the German Empire, Kiel, like Wilhelmshaven,
became an Imperial War Port. The Prussian naval depot, which had
existed since 1865, became the Royal Shipyard in Kiel, which in turn
was renamed the Imperial Shipyard after the founding of the German
Empire in 1871. The Kiel shipyard workers began to organize in 1873;
the General German Ship Carpenters Association was founded.
The first Kiel Week took place in 1882; since 1885 it has been
organized as a combination of ship parade, sailing regatta and folk
festival. Over time, it has become a world-famous sailing event and,
alongside the Oktoberfest and the Cannstatter Volksfest, one of the
largest folk festivals in Germany. Kaiser Wilhelm II visited them
regularly.
In 1883 Kiel left the district of the same name
and became an independent city; Bordesholm became the new seat of
the district of Kiel. Rapid population growth began in the 1880s as
shipbuilding increased. Their employees quickly organized
themselves: the Kiel trade union cartel was founded in 1893 and
initially had 2,900 members.
On June 20, 1895, the Kaiser
Wilhelm Canal (today the Kiel Canal) was opened; it soon became the
busiest canal in the world. As a result, Kiel became the main port
of the German Navy. In 1917, in the middle of the First World War,
Kiel became the official residence of the Upper President of the
Province of Schleswig-Holstein and thus became the provincial
capital. Previously, the Oberpraesidium was based in Schleswig.
The Kiel Sailors' Uprising on November 3, 1918 began a
revolution that made a significant contribution to the end of the
First World War. On November 3, 1918, the sailors rose up there and,
after a spontaneous battle with troops loyal to the government,
founded Germany's first workers' and soldiers' council on November 4
and thus began the November Revolution, which gripped all of Germany
within a few days and laid the foundation for the Weimar Republic
laid.
The civil airfield Kiel-Holtenau was put into operation
in 1928.
In Kiel (as in the rest of the Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein) anti-republican forces, especially the National Socialists, gained strength towards the end of the Weimar Republic. Kiel was the main town of the Nazi district of Schleswig-Holstein. German Jews were hardest hit by the attacks by the National Socialists after the seizure of power on January 30, 1933. In addition, communist and social-democratic labor leaders and people who, as democrats, had publicly supported the existence of the Weimar Republic, were also persecuted. After the National Socialists illegally occupied Kiel City Hall on March 11, 1933, Wilhelm Spiegel, a well-known lawyer loyal to the republic, was murdered in his house the following night by several men in SA and SS uniforms. The investigations that followed served as a pretext for quickly smashing up the powerful local SPD association in Kiel and sending many social democrats and communists to concentration camps.
During the boycott of Jewish businesses on April 1, 1933, the lawyer Friedrich Schumm was murdered in a cell of the police prison on Gartenstrasse in Kiel by a pack of SA and SS men. Around 11 a.m. that morning during the Nazi boycott against Jewish shops, Schumm was beaten in front of his father Georg Schumm’s furniture shop on Kehdenstraße by several SS and SA men who wanted to prevent him from starting his shop to enter father's. On the other hand, he had defended himself in self-defense with a pistol. Shots were also fired by the SS men. An SS man by the name of Asthalter, who was also a shooter in the incident, was injured and taken to the hospital. Asthalter was operated on for a liver stab wound and was soon out of danger. After the incident, Schumm went to police station II himself and handed in his weapon there. He was taken to the police detention center at around 12:30 p.m. At the same time, an SS commando completely devastated his father Georg Schumm's furniture store, leaving property damage of 25,000 Reichsmarks. Schumm's father and sister were arrested. The SS squad, other SA units and people in civilian clothes then went to the police prison and, with the help of the NSDAP district leader Behrens and with the participation of the NSDAP Gauleiter Hinrich Lohse, managed to gain entry to the anti-democratic and anti-Semitic police chief Otto zu Rantzau into jail. SS men received the cell key, attacked the defenseless Friedrich Schumm in his cell and killed him with about 30 shots. Some time later, the injured Asthalter received the high sum of 25,000 RM as compensation from Georg Schumm in a civil lawsuit – it corresponded to seven to ten times Asthalter's annual income. During the court proceedings on May 5, 1934, numerous SS people were present in the courtroom, of whom not only Georg Schumm "showed justified fear". The commander of this gang of thugs had pledged to the court that there would be "no disruptions" to the hearing. “Perhaps” the murderers of Friedrich Schumm had also been among the SS men. A preliminary investigation opened by a senior public prosecutor was discontinued on July 7, 1933 at the behest of the Prussian Ministry of Justice. After the end of National Socialism, there was neither a court penalty nor compensation for the murder. After 1945, the Kiel public prosecutor's office did not succeed in "breaking through the camaraderie and the silence of the surviving witnesses and murderers." Only three subordinate SS men could be proven to have misconduct in an incidental matter. They had "persecuted a Jew for racial reasons and forced the police to hand him over to the SS." Two of them had also stolen money when Georg Schumm's shop was destroyed. They were sentenced to imprisonment for 12 months and 20 months twice.
The Christian-Albrechts-University in Kiel, among whose students the NSDAP had long been particularly popular, was quickly brought into line after the seizure of power in 1933. With the jurists, the Kiel School developed a strictly regime-loyal and anti-Semitic legal theory, which took over the positions of the important Jewish or liberal professors in Kiel who had previously been unlawfully dismissed. In the philosophical seminar, the liberal lecturers Julius Stenzel and Richard Kroner were quickly replaced by the active National Socialists Kurt Hildebrandt and Ferdinand Weinhandl. In May 1933, Weinhandl was the main speaker at the book burning rally on Wilhelmplatz in Kiel.
When Kiel became the venue for the Olympic sailing competitions in 1936, the authorities and the Nazi regime tried to keep their anti-Semitic measures secret, as they were in the rest of the Reich, so as not to shock the world public. After that, the anti-Jewish measures continued. Jewish entrepreneurs were robbed of their businesses in various ways, a process the Nazis called Aryanization. Jews were disadvantaged in every way in public life. During the Night of Broken Glass on November 9, 1938, Nazi units from the SA and SS destroyed the large synagogue in Kiel at Schrevenpark. Several laws and ordinances served to eliminate the Jews from economic life, including the ordinance on the use of Jewish property. The persecution of the Jews finally ended in their murder: Many of the more than 600 Jews living in Kiel in 1933 were victims of the deportation of Jews from Germany and later murdered in the extermination camps. Only a few managed to flee into exile after losing their funds to German coercive measures.
In June 1944, the Nordmark work education camp was set up primarily to accommodate Soviet and Polish forced laborers, in which more than 600 people died by the beginning of 1945.
Between 1939 and 1945, more than 80 percent of the city, an important base for the Navy and the site of three large shipyards, was destroyed by Allied air raids on Kiel. With 350 sunken ships, the Kiel Fjord was probably the largest ship graveyard of the time.
At 9:30 p.m. on May 2, 1945, the Naval High Command Baltic Sea announced that Kiel was not to be defended. The following day, existing war material and ammunition were destroyed, leading to numerous detonations and gunfire that could be heard throughout the city. On May 3, the city was declared an "Open City". The last air raid on Kiel finally took place on the following night from May 3rd to 4th. On May 4th, Hans-Georg von Friedeburg signed the surrender of all German troops in north-west Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark on behalf of the last Reich President Karl Dönitz, who had previously left with the last Reich government in Flensburg-Mürwik. On the same day, the first British armored car reached the city. In the afternoon, a small British delegation entered Kiel City Hall and handed Mayor Behrens instructions for the behavior of the population. Allied control of Kiel had begun. In the days that followed, the city was gradually occupied without a fight. The rest of Schleswig-Holstein was also completely occupied in the following days, with the exception of the special area of Mürwik, which was only occupied on May 23. The last Reich government ended with subsequent arrests.
After the end of the Second World War, Kiel
was part of the British occupation zone from 1945. The British
military administration set up a DP camp in the city to accommodate
displaced persons. The majority of them were former Nazi forced
laborers from Poland and the Baltic States.
With Decree No.
46 of the British Military Government on August 23, 1946, the
province of Schleswig-Holstein was separated from the state of
Prussia and the new state of Schleswig-Holstein was founded; the
Free State of Prussia itself was dissolved by Control Council Law
No. 46 on February 25, 1947. Kiel was the capital of
Schleswig-Holstein, which became part of the newly founded Federal
Republic of Germany in 1949.
As early as the end of 1944,
many refugees from East Prussia, West Prussia and Pomerania came to
Schleswig-Holstein. Long after the end of the war, displaced persons
from the eastern regions of the German Reich had to be housed in the
badly damaged city. In the post-war years, Kiel was rebuilt from a
"modernist" point of view. It soon developed again into the
economic, political and intellectual center of Schleswig-Holstein.
In 1954, SPD Lord Mayor Hans Muthling (already as a candidate)
called for naval units to be stationed in Kiel in view of the
expected rearmament of the Federal Republic. In March 1956, the
first three Schnellboote of the Bundesmarine were stationed. In July
1960, the first warship built in Kiel after 1945 was launched at the
Lindenau shipyard. Because of the proximity to the demarcation line,
other units were later transferred to northern Olpenitz. In 1960,
due to the war, the number of women in Kiel exceeded that of men by
about 14%.
The 1960s were characterized by incorporations,
port expansion, expansion of ferry connections and the establishment
of new companies. In 1965, the University of Kiel, which was
expanding rapidly on a new campus, celebrated its 300th anniversary.
In 1968 there were demonstrations by pupils, students and
apprentices in Kiel against the educational crisis and tariff
increases in local transport. The latter were unsuccessful.
36 years after the 1936 Summer Olympics, Kiel was again the venue
for the sailing competitions of the 1972 Summer Olympics, this time
in the new Schilksee Olympic Center. In 1975 the Kiel envelope was
revived as a modern folk festival. In 1985, the operation of the
Kiel tram was discontinued, a decision that is often regretted
today. In 1992 the city celebrated its 750th anniversary and in 1994
the 100th Kiel Week was held. Due to the two world wars, there was
no Kiel Week from 1915 to 1919 and from 1940 to 1946.
On
September 23, 2008, the city was awarded the title of place of
diversity by the federal government.
The 2021 Kiel tornado on
September 29 injured several people.
In
1850, the city of Kiel, including Hammer, covered a total area of
1277 hectares.
From 1869 the following communities and
districts were incorporated into the city of Kiel.
population development
In 1885 Kiel had more than 50,000
inhabitants. In 1900 the city's population exceeded 100,000, making it a
major city. By 1910, that number had doubled to 211,000. In December
1942, the city's population reached its all-time high of 306,000 because
of the armaments in World War II (naval port, shipyards). On December
31, 2016, the "official number of inhabitants" for Kiel was 247,441
according to the update of the Statistical Office for Hamburg and
Schleswig-Holstein (main residences only and after comparison with the
other state offices).
According to the 2011 census, 41.3% of the
residents were Protestant, 7.4% Roman Catholic and 51.3% were
non-denominational, belonged to another religious community or made no
statement. According to a calculation from the census figures for people
with a migration background, the proportion of Muslims in Kiel in 2011
was 6.7%.
The number of Catholics and especially that of
Protestants has fallen since the 2011 census; the number of residents
with other denominations or no denomination increases by about 1%
annually. At the end of 2021, Kiel had 247,546 inhabitants, of whom
32.5% were Protestant, 6.4% Catholic and 61.1% either had another
religious community or did not belong to it. Three years previously,
35.1% of the population in Kiel were Protestant, 6.8% were Catholic and
58.1% belonged to another denomination or religious community or were
non-denominational. There are a total of 23 Protestant parishes and four
Catholic parishes. There are also 14 mosques in the state capital, 11 of
which are in the Gaarden district.
History
The
population of the city of Kiel initially belonged to the archbishopric
of Bremen and its suffragan bishopric of Schleswig. From 1526 the
Reformation was introduced by the sovereign. In 1534 the Catholics had
to give up the town's only parish church (there was another church next
to it). The Franciscan monastery in Kiel had already been closed four
years earlier. After that, Kiel was for a long time a predominantly
Protestant city that belonged to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of
Schleswig-Holstein. Today, the city's Lutheran congregations – unless
they are members of the Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church or the
Danish Church in Southern Schleswig (in Kiel-Holtenau) – belong to the
Altholstein church district within the Schleswig and Holstein district
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Northern Germany.
In 1891
St. Nikolaus was built as the first Catholic parish church since the
Reformation. The church members in Kiel belonged to the then existing
"Apostolic Vicariate of the Nordic Missions". The Catholic communities
in Kiel and the surrounding area now belong to the parish of Francis of
Assisi in the Archdiocese of Hamburg.
Of the evangelical free
churches, the Baptists (since 1872), the United Methodist Church, the
Free Evangelical Church, the Seventh-day Adventists and several
Pentecostal churches are represented in Kiel.
Other Christian
communities and church communities represented in Kiel are the Apostolic
Community, Jehovah's Witnesses, the New Apostolic Church, the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) and the Christian Community
inspired by anthroposophy. Since 2004 there has also been a Russian
Orthodox community.
The existence of a Jewish
community in the Middle Ages and early modern times is not documented.
The history of the Jews in Kiel therefore probably begins relatively
late, at the end of the 17th century. It is thanks to the policies of
King Christian VII that the Kiel magistrate, with its initially
anti-Jewish attitude, did not prevail and that Jews were able to settle
in Kiel. In 1782 the former university coffee house at Kehdenstrasse 12
was converted into the city's first Jewish prayer house (the building no
longer exists) until the community moved to the larger, three-story
synagogue at Haßstrasse in 1869 (part of the ground floor is in ruins
until recieved today). This synagogue soon became too small, so in 1910
the congregation moved to a large new building near Schrevenpark on the
corner of Humboldtstrasse and Goethestrasse.
In 1933 the
community had about 600 members. This last synagogue was in the pogrom
night from 9./10. Destroyed November 1938. Because of National
Socialism, most of Kiel's Jews left the city and went into exile or were
deported to extermination camps and murdered. Due to the small number of
Jews after the end of the Nazi regime, the administration of Jewish
affairs for Schleswig-Holstein was transferred to the Jewish community
in Hamburg in 1968.
With the collapse of the Eastern Bloc and the
subsequent immigration of Eastern European Jews to Germany, the
situation of Jewish communities throughout Germany changed
fundamentally. In 1995 the "Jewish educational, cultural and social
work" was founded in Kiel, and in 1997 the cantor Daniel Katz, newly
appointed from Hamburg, invited the approximately 250 Jews in Kiel to
the first Jewish service after the destruction of the last prayer room
of the Jewish community (until 1941 in the fire corridor, today
Europaplatz).
The approximately 550 Jews in the city at present
and the regular services led to the founding of an independent Jewish
community in Kiel in early 2004, which belongs to the state association
of Jewish communities in Schleswig-Holstein. In October 2004, members of
the previous Hamburg community center in Kiel founded a second community
and - together with the former Hamburg community center in Flensburg and
the Jewish community in Lübeck - a second, separate umbrella
organization (Jewish Community Schleswig-Holstein). Both Kiel
communities have been members of the Central Council of Jews in Germany
since 2005. The community center and the headquarters of the Jewish
community are located on Wikingerstraße. The synagogue of the Jewish
community in Kiel is on Waitzstraße in Brunswik. The old Jewish cemetery
is on Michelsenstrasse. Two new Jewish cemeteries were set up on
municipal land at the Eichhof.
The number of Muslim communities has increased to 14 since the first community was founded in 1978. In the summer of 2004, the Habib Mosque (Mosque of a Friend) on Flintbeker Strasse was the first mosque to be identified as a sacred building from the outside. The mosque belongs to the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. The majority of the mosques are located in Gaarden, where the proportion of residents with a migration background is above average at 43.6% (particularly from Turkey and Arab countries). There are other mosques in Friedrichsort, Dietrichsdorf and on Königsweg in the inner city area.
The council assembly is the municipal representative body of the city of Kiel. The citizens decide on the composition every five years. The last election took place on May 6, 2018. The councilors elected for Die PARTEI and the Pirate Party merged as Die Faction. However, this group dissolved on August 16, 2021, and the two MEPs are now non-attached. A member elected for the FDP is non-attached. The SPD, Greens and FDP initially cooperated in a traffic light coalition until the FDP left the alliance in July 2021, which continues to exist as a red-green coalition.
At the head
of the city of Kiel was originally a Vogt, who was appointed by the
sovereign. In addition to the Vogt, there was a council very early on,
which exercised more and more actual power in the city after 1315. The
municipal council in Kiel is now referred to as the council meeting. The
council was chaired by the mayor. Later there were several mayors. After
the transition to Prussia, the Prussian town ordinance was introduced
throughout Schleswig-Holstein in 1867. At the head of the city was a
mayor.
After the Second World War, Schleswig-Holstein became part
of the British occupation zone. In 1946, the military government
introduced a two-tier administration. After that there was first a mayor
as chairman of the council and next to that a senior city director as
head of administration. However, the Schleswig-Holstein Municipal Code
of 1950 gave the head of administration the traditional title of mayor
or mayor again and introduced the new title of mayor for the chairman of
the council in larger cities - such as in Kiel.
For the first
time since the Second World War, the mayor (Norbert Gansel, SPD) was
directly elected in 1997; In 2003, Angelika Volquartz (CDU) succeeded
him as Kiel's first female mayor. Torsten Albig (SPD) was directly
elected in 2009 for a six-year term, but left in 2012 after being
elected to the Schleswig-Holstein state parliament. Until a new Lord
Mayor was elected, Mayor Peter Todeskino from the Green Party acted as
Lord Mayor's representative, and on November 11, 2012, the SPD candidate
Susanne Gaschke was elected Kiel's new Lord Mayor. On October 28, 2013,
Susanne Gaschke resigned with immediate effect because of the so-called
Kiel tax deal, and Todeskino took over the official business again until
the new elections were due. In the new election of the mayor on March
23, 2014, Ulf Kaempfer (SPD) won the election for the office of mayor
with 63.1%. On October 27, 2019, Kampfer was elected to a second term
in the first ballot. His deputy has been Mayor Renate Treutel since
2018.
City leaders 1867–1946
1867-1888: Heinrich Mölling, Lord
Mayor
1888-1912: Paul Fuss, Lord Mayor
1912-1919: Paul Lindemann,
Lord Mayor
1920-1933: Emil Lueken (from 1925 DVP), Lord Mayor
1933-1945: Walter Behrens (NSDAP), Lord Mayor
1945-1946: Max Emcke
(CDU), Lord Mayor
President of the Council since 1946
1946:
Otto Tschadek (SPD), acting mayor
1946: Willi Koch (CDU), Lord Mayor
1946-1950: Andreas Gayk, (SPD), Lord Mayor
1950-1951: Peter Jeschke,
Mayor
1951-1955: Max Schmidt (SPD), Mayor
1955-1959: Wilhelm
Sievers (CDU), Mayor
1959: Hans-Carl Rüdel (CDU), Mayor
1959-1970:
Hermann Köster (SPD), Mayor
1970-1974: Ida Hinz (SPD), Mayor
1974-1978: Eckhard Sauerbaum (CDU), Mayor
1978-1982: Rolf Johanning
(SPD), Mayor
1982-1985: Eckhard Sauerbaum (CDU), Mayor
1985-1986:
Günther Schmidt-Brodersen, Mayor
1986-1998: Silke Reyer (SPD), Mayor
1998-2003: Cathy Kietzer (SPD), Mayor
2003-2005: Arne Wulff (CDU),
Mayor
2005-2008: Rainer Tschorn (CDU), Mayor
2008-2013: Cathy
Kietzer (SPD), Mayor
since 2013: Hans-Werner Tovar (SPD), Mayor
Head of administration since 1946
1946-1950: Walther Lehmkuhl
(SPD), city director
1950-1954: Andreas Gayk (SPD), Lord Mayor
1954-1965: Hans Müthling (SPD), Lord Mayor
1965-1980: Günther Bantzer
(SPD), Lord Mayor
1980-1992: Karl Heinz Luckhardt (SPD), Lord Mayor
1992-1996: Otto Kelling (SPD), Lord Mayor
1996-1997: Karl-Heinz
Zimmer (CDU), mayor as deputy mayor
1997-2003: Norbert Gansel (SPD),
Lord Mayor
2003-2009: Angelika Volquartz (CDU), Mayor
2009-2012:
Torsten Albig (SPD), Lord Mayor
2012: Peter Todeskino (Bündnis 90/Die
Grünen), mayor as deputy mayor
2012-2013: Susanne Gaschke (SPD),
Mayor
2013-2014: Peter Todeskino (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen), mayor as
deputy mayor
since 2014: Ulf Kaempfer (SPD), Lord Mayor
Representation of Kiel in the state parliament of Schleswig-Holstein
The city of Kiel is politically divided into three constituencies. There
are the regional constituency Kiel-Nord (12), the regional constituency
Kiel-West (13) and the regional constituency Kiel-East (14). In the
state elections in Schleswig-Holstein in 2022, Lasse Petersdotter
(Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) was directly elected for constituency 12, Anna
Langsch (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) for constituency 13 and Seyran Papo
(CDU) for constituency 14.
For the first time, the CDU, with
Seyran Papo, succeeded in directly winning constituency 14 Kiel-Ost,
which the SPD had always been able to win before, and Bündnis 90/Die
Grünen gained direct mandates for the first time.
Representation
of Kiel in the Bundestag
The constituency of Kiel (5) also includes
Kronshagen and Altenholz in the district of Rendsburg-Eckernförde. In
the 2017 federal election, the citizens of this constituency elected
Mathias Stein (SPD) directly to the Bundestag with 31% of the first
votes.
Badges and flags
Blazon: In red, the silver Holstein
nettle leaf, covered with a brick black boat. The silver nettle leaf on
a red background is the coat of arms of the Schauenburgers. The brick
boat symbolizes the city rights (through the city wall) and the location
as a port city.
The town twinning of Kiel:
Brest (France), since June 26, 1964
Coventry (United Kingdom), since
1967
Vaasa (Finland), since 1967
Gdynia (Poland), since 1985
Tallinn (Estonia), since 1986
Stralsund (Germany, Mecklenburg-West
Pomerania), since 1987
Kaliningrad (Königsberg; Kaliningrad Oblast,
Russia), since 1992
Sovetsk (Tilsit; Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia),
since 1953/1992
Samsun (Turkey), since 2012
Antakya (Turkey),
sister city agreement since 2012
Moshi Rural (Tanzania), since 2013
San Francisco (USA), since 2017
Aarhus, Denmark, since 2019