Fortunately we had a sea day between Stockholm and our arrival in Kiel. Tom had come down with a head cold (not COVID!) and was able to recuperate, feeling well enough after dosing himself on DayQuil and NyQuil, to participate in today’s easy excursion around the Baltic city of Kiel. 

Kiel is located at the end of the 17-mile long Kiel Fjord with depths of 32 to 40 feet, allowing for large cruise and container vessels to navigate these waters. It is also situated between the Baltic and North Seas. Our first stop was the Kiel Canal, a significant construction project during the German Prussian Empire (1871-1918).

The creation of the canal allowed maritime traffic easy access between the 2 major waterways, shortening the distance by about 400 miles. Instead of sailing around Denmark, ships cruised from the North Sea, through the 100 mile canal into the Kiel Lock and out into the Baltic Sea. The canal currently sees approximately 28,000 passengers/year traveling through the Kiel Canal.

We watched from a platform as a large ship entered the lock but our group didn’t stay the half hour required for the water to change its level. Instead, we boarded the bus and had a nearly birds-eye view of the Kiel Canal and Lock as we drove over the bridge.

Despite Kiel being an important Medieval trading center, there are few buildings left from that era. Kiel was heavily bombed during WWII due to its shipyards and strategic location between the Baltic and North Seas. Nearly 80% of the city was destroyed.

There were a couple of surviving buildings our guide pointed out while driving past but there was no walking tour included as there really wasn’t much of an Old Town to see.

St. Nicholas Church’s tower was easily spotted as it rises 348 feet to the sky. It is located in the old Town Square where the Rathaus is located. Not far from the Town Square was the first pedestrian zone created in Northern Europe. It was constructed after 1945 as building were being reconstructed. It is now a busy shopping area, crammed with stores, restaurants, cafés and pedestrians.

We stopped to stretch our legs at the Olympic Village in Schilksee, site of the 1972 Olympic Sailing competition. It continues to be very active with over 800 sailboats of various sizes dotting the area in front of one of the former Olympic buildings where athletes stayed.

The last week in June is Sail Week where 4,000 sailors descend on this area to participate in regattas. In addition to racing, there are city-wide festivities for both sailors and citizens. Schilksee is actually part of the city of Kiel. It has given Kiel its nickname of “Sailing City”. 

On the way back to the ship, we received a bit more information from our guide, Susanne. Kiel is the birthplace of 2 famous citizens: Max Plank, inventor of Quantum Physics and Anschütz, inventor of the gyroscope. The Anschütz company is a presence in Kiel and continues to manufacture maritime equipment. Kiel has acres of agricultural land mostly towards the outskirts of the city center. We noticed fields of sunflowers past their peak. Susanne thought they may be harvested for biofuel which prompted a discussion on the state of energy production in Germany. Not much happening. There is some wind, solar and bio, however the nuclear facilities have been shut down, forcing Germany to import LP gas from the USA. There is legislation forcing buses, ferries and other vehicles to become electric only, but this may be taking things too far. The Green Party is in power at the moment but who knows what will happen.

We entered the port and, just prior to leaving the bus, Susanne pointed out the shipyards across the fjord. Kiel is divided by the fjord so the east side of the city is the industrial side with 2 shipyards. One manufactures electric powered submarines and the other builds surface ships.

Overall, it was a relaxing excursion, learning more about the history of the Baltic Sea area along with its history and current events. We’re back in our stateroom after a late lunch, relaxing and planning on how to spend our evening as we sail away from Kiel and forwards Århus, Denmark.