Kiel
Kiel is a city in northern
Germany and the capital of the
Bundesland Schleswig-Holstein. It has a population of 233,795 .
Located on the
Baltic Sea at the head of the
Kieler F?rde , the city has been one the country's main
naval bases since the 1860s. Kiel is a center for German shipbuilders and the eastern terminus of the
Kiel Canal. A renowned university, the Christian-Albrechts-Universit?t , is located in Kiel.
Kiel is very famous for its
sailing events, including the
Kieler Woche, , one of the biggest sailing events in the world.
Encyclopedia
Kiel is a city in northern
Germany and the capital of the
Bundesland Schleswig-Holstein. It has a population of 233,795 .
Located on the
Baltic Sea at the head of the
Kieler Förde , the city has been one the country's main
naval bases since the 1860s. Kiel is a center for German shipbuilders and the eastern terminus of the
Kiel Canal. A renowned university, the Christian-Albrechts-Universität , is located in Kiel.
Kiel is very famous for its
sailing events, including the
Kieler Woche, , one of the biggest sailing events in the world. In 1936 and 1972, when the
Olympic Games were held in
Berlin and
Munich respectively, the Olympic sailing competitions were held in Kiel-Schilksee.
History
The Kiel Fjord was settled as recorded by the geography and architechture of the fjord, that Normans, or vikings settled the land along their raids for many years staying in German villages.
Kiel was first originally founded in 1233 as
Holstenstadt tom Kyle by Count Adolf IV of Schauenburg, and granted town privileges in 1242 by Adolf's eldest son, Johann I of Schauenburg.
Kiel, the capital of
Holstein, was a member of the
Hanseatic League from 1284 until it was expelled in 1518 for harbouring
pirates. In 1431, the
Kieler Umschlag was first held, which became the central market for goods and money in Schleswig-Holstein until it began to lose significance from 1850 on, being held for the last time in 1900. Kiel's university, the Christian-Albrechts-Universität, was founded on 29 September, 1665, by Christian Albrecht, duke of
Holstein-
Gottorf. A number of important scholars, including
Theodor Mommsen and
Max Planck, studied or taught there.
From 1773 to 1864, the town belonged to the King of
Denmark. However, because the king ruled Holstein as a fief of the
Holy Roman Empire only through a personal union, the town was not incorporated as part of Denmark proper. Thus Kiel belonged to Germany but was ruled by the Danish king. Even though the Empire was abolished in 1806, the Danish king continued to rule Kiel only through his position as Duke of Holstein. When
Schleswig and Holstein rebelled against Denmark in 1848, Kiel became the capital of Schleswig-Holstein until the Danish victory in 1852.
During the
Second War of Schleswig in 1864, Kiel and the rest of Schleswig and Holstein were conquered by an alliance of the
Austrian Empire and the
Kingdom of Prussia. After the war Kiel was briefly administered by both the Austrians and the Prussians, but the
Austro-Prussian War in 1866 led to the annexation of Kiel by Prussia in 1867. On 24 March, 1865, the Prussian king William I based Prussia's Baltic Sea fleet out of Kiel instead of
Danzig .
When King William I of Prussia became
Kaiser William I of the
German Empire in 1871, he designated Kiel and
Wilhelmshaven as
Reichskrieghafen, or "Imperial War Harbour".
Because of its new role as Germany's main naval base, Kiel quickly increased in size in the following years, from 18,770 in 1864 to about 200,000 in 1910. Much of the old town center and other surroundings were leveled and redeveloped to provide for the growing city.
Kiel was the site of the sailors' mutiny which sparked the
German Revolution in late 1918.
Because of its status as a naval port and as production site for submarines, Kiel was heavily bombed by the Allies during
World War II; it is estimated that 80% of the remaining old town, 72% of the residential areas, and 83% of the industrial areas were destroyed. The city was rebuilt after the war, but city planners failed to revive the former cityscape; Kiel was less meticulously restored than other towns in Schleswig-Holstein like
Lübeck,
Flensburg or
Schleswig.
In 1946, Kiel was named the seat of government for Schleswig-Holstein, and it officially became the state's capital in 1972. The
Kieler Umschlag has been held again yearly since 1975. It is now a festival with music and food stalls, historical costumes, special bread, and a wedding, the
Umschlagshochzeit for which every young bride and groom can apply. But above all, Kiel is most famous for its
Kieler Woche sailing festival held annually in June.
Economy
Kiel is the home of
HDW Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werft GmbH, a
shipyard founded in 1838 famed for its construction of
submarines. HDW built the first German submarine
Brandtaucher in 1850, and is today a subsidiary of
ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems, the leading German group of shipyards.
Places of interest
In the vicinity of Kiel are seaside resorts such as Kiel-Strande, Kiel-Schilksee, Möltenort and Laboe. Laboe has an important
naval memorial, as well as the WWII-era submarine
U-995, a popular tourist site since 1972.
Sights in Kiel include:
Neighborhoods
Kiel is divided into 18 boroughs and 30 districts or neighborhoods. Each borough contains one or more districts, and has an advisory council with no budgetary powers. Here are the boroughs and districts, with corresponding district numbers:
- Mitte
- 1 Altstadt
- 2 Vorstadt
- 3 Exerzierplatz
- 4 Damperhof
- Ravensberg/Brunswik/Düsternbrook
- 5 Brunswik
- 6 Düsternbrook
- 7 Blücherplatz
- 9 Ravensberg
- Steenbek-Projensdorf
- Wik
- Schreventeich/Hasseldieksdamm
- 10 Schreventeich
- 11 Südfriedhof
- 15 Hasseldieksdamm
- Gaarden
- 12 Gaarden-Ost
- 13 Gaarden-Süd und Kronsburg
- Hassee/Vieburg
- Ellerbek/Wellingdorf
- 16 Ellerbek
- 17 Wellingdorf
- Holtenau
- Pries-Friedrichsort
- Neumühlen-Dietrichsdorf/Oppendorf
- 21 Neumühlen-Dietrichsdorf
- Elmschenhagen/Kroog
- Suchsdorf
- Schilksee
- Mettenhof
- Russee/Hammer
- Meimersdorf/Moorsee
- Wellsee/Kronsburg/Rönne
Population growth
| Year | Inhabitants |
|---|
| 1300 | 1.000 | | 1450 | 2.000 | | 1682 | 3.310 | | 1750 | 4.500 | | 1768 | 5.268 | | 1773 | 5.430 | | 1781 | 5.739 | | 1803 | 7.075 | | 1825 | 10.035 | | 1830 | 10.833 | | 1. February 1835 ¹ | 11.622 | | 1. February 1840 ¹ | 12.344 | | 1. February 1845 ¹ | 13.572 | | 1. February 1855 ¹ | 16.274 | | 1. February 1860 ¹ | 17.541 | | 3. December 1864 ¹ | 18.770 | |
| | Year | Inhabitants |
|---|
| 3. December 1867 ¹ | 24.216 | | 1. December 1871 ¹ | 31.764 | | 1. December 1875 ¹ | 37.246 | | 1. December 1880 ¹ | 43.594 | | 1. December 1885 ¹ | 51.707 | | 1. December 1890 ¹ | 69.172 | | 2. December 1895 ¹ | 85.666 | | 1. December 1900 ¹ | 107.977 | | 1. December 1905 ¹ | 163.772 | | 1. December 1910 ¹ | 211.627 | | 1. December 1916 ¹ | 191.937 | | 5. December 1917 ¹ | 194.609 | | 8. October 1919 ¹ | 205.330 | | 16. June 1925 ¹ | 213.587 | | 16. June 1933 ¹ | 218.335 | | 17. May 1939 ¹ | 273.735 | |
| | Year | Inhabitants |
|---|
| 31. December 1945 | 199.579 | | 29. October 1946 | 214.335 | | 13. September 1950 ¹ | 254.449 | | 25. September 1956 ¹ | 256.727 | | 6. June 1961 ¹ | 273.284 | | 31. December 1965 | 270.415 | | 27. May 1970 ¹ | 271.719 | | 31. December 1975 | 262.164 | | 31. December 1980 | 250.062 | | 31. December 1985 | 245.682 | | 25. May 1987 ¹ | 237.767 | | 31. December 1990 | 245.567 | | 31. December 1995 | 246.033 | | 31. December 2000 | 232.612 | | 30. June 2005 | 229.715 |
|
¹ Census result
Notable people
Famous residents
- Eric Braeden, actor
- E. Busch, actor, writer & collector of songs
- Rudolf Hell, inventor
- Johannes Wolfgang Willy Friedlieb Heuer
- August Howaldt, founder of Howaldtswerke
- Otto Kretschmer, U-boat commander
- Georg Landsberg, mathematician
- Carl Loewe, composer
- Peter III of Russia
- Max Planck, physicist
- Karl Leonhard Reinhold, philosopher
- Adolf Remane, zoologist
- Ernst von Salomon, writer
- Ernst Steinitz, mathematician
- Ferdinand Tönnies, sociologist
- Carl Zuckmayer, writer and playwright
Important historic mayors and lord mayors of Kiel
- 1688 - 1720: Asmus Bremer
- 1730 - 1732: Ernst Joachim von Westphalen
- 1920 - 1933: Emil Lueken
Lord mayors after World War II
- 1946 - 1954: Andreas Gayk
- 1954 - 1965: Hans Müthling
- 1965 - 1980: Günther Bantzer
- 1980 - 1994: Karl-Heinz Luckhardt
- 1994 - 1997: Otto Kelling
- 1997 - 2003: Norbert Gansel
- 2003 - today: Angelika Volquartz
Sister towns
...
,
FinlandExternal links
-
- KielWiki
- Wikitravel page about Kiel
-
- bars, restaurants, pubs
- webcams
-
Notes
