Kiel - a portrait of the city
A brief history of Kiel
City portrait       Deutsche Version

Living and working
by the waterside

Kiel - centre of
business and culture

Kieler Woche

KIEL.SAILING CITY

"City centre harbour"

Naval port 
High tech and research
Brief city history 
Exquisite location
The navy changed
the face of Kiel
A new start as the capital
of Schleswig-Holstein
International links

The founder of the city, Count Adolf IV of Schauenburg, saw the exquisite potential offered by the water's edge location at first glance. In 1233, he built his 'Holstenstadt tom Kyle' - today's Kiel - on the peninsula of an arm of the Firth. In 1242, it was established as a city.

In the Middle Ages, the centre of the old town lay on a peninsula.
From the air the outline of the old town can still be seen very clearly. Streets were laid out in the form of a double cross on a peninsula on the fiord, with the present day Alter Markt and the Nikolai church in the centre.

Nevertheless, from the 14th century, the aristocracy made Kiel into a capital market of significance from the Skagerrak to the Elbe with the annual 'Kieler Umschlag' market. Today, business people in Kiel recall this event with a fun fair every February. A significant boost to the city came with the university, which was founded in 1665. Named after Duke Christian Albrecht, the university made a sustained contribution to the intellectual climate prevailing in the city.

Links
Chronicle (German)

City Archives (German)

City Museum (German)

The Russian Tsar Peter III was born in Kiel Castle. The city came under German and Danish rule. In 1848, Kiel was the scene of the Schleswig-Holstein uprising, an attempt to release the two duchies from the grip of the Danish state. This did not happen until 1865, when Kiel had an Austrian ruler for a short period before being annexed by Prussia.