Kiel

About Kiel

Kiel is a Baltic embarkation port on Germany's north coast, used primarily by ships running seven-night Baltic or Norwegian fjord round-trips. The Ostseekai cruise terminal is a short walk from downtown shopping and the Kiel Maritime Museum. Most turnaround passengers transfer in from Hamburg airport — about 90 minutes by coach or train. The Kiel Canal is a common scenic-cruising segment on repositioning itineraries.

• Kiel is the southern terminus of the Kiel Canal — the world's busiest artificial waterway — which connects the Baltic Sea to the North Sea at Brunsbüttel, cutting across the Jutland Peninsula.
• Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea (population ~250,000), Kiel was granted city rights in 1242 and became an important Hanseatic trading hub.
• Kiel Week (Kieler Woche), held every June, is the world's largest sailing event, attracting over 5,000 sailors from more than 50 countries and three million visitors.
• The port of Kiel is one of the busiest ferry ports in Europe, with regular services to Oslo, Gothenburg, and other Scandinavian cities.
• Kiel played a pivotal role in both World Wars: a major naval base in WWI, and the site of the Kiel Mutiny in 1918 that helped spark the German Revolution leading to the war's end.