A little bit of history...


Here you get an insight into Kiel's unique history


Kiel was founded in the first half of the 13th century. The charter of a city was acquired in 1242. The topographical location of the old town - a peninsula position, limited by the Förde (Fjord) and the little Kiel, could only be reached from the north - fulfilled a very good protection function.

image author: Jens Thöl

Still Kiel had problems to assert itself in the city system. The city's only function was the regional trade, all other trading by-passed Kiel and went to Lübeck.
Accordingly the number of inhabitants was relatively low:


6.000 citizens at the end of the 18th century. Kiel's situation started to  change with the integration into the Danish state alliance 1753 - 1863. The Eider-Canal was built, the first train run in 1844 from Kiel to Hamburg-Altona, 1856 the first steamboat from Kiel to Denmark and the construction of roads started. As a consequence of the integration Kiel registered 17.500 inhabitants in 1860.

image author: Jens Thöl


But the real boom only started with Kiel's take-over by the Prussian administration in 1865. Kiel became in 1867 initially Prussian war harbour, which was relocated from Gdansk to Kiel and in 1871 with the founding of the Reich's Reich war harbour.