History of the Kiel-Canal

The Kiel-Canal is the world's busiest artificial waterway – approximately 40,000 vessels pass it per year! With a length of 98,637 kilometres from the western end at Brunsbüttel to the eastern end at Kiel-Holtenau, the Kiel-Canal provides a shortcut between the North Sea and the Baltic, avoiding the time-consuming voyage via Cape Skaw. Thus, the Kiel-Canal is the safest, shortest and most efficient shipping route between both seas! On average, a passage through the Kiel-Canal will save 280 nautical miles in comparison with a voyage round the Skaw!

The first plans to build an artificial waterway across the Cimbrian peninsula dates back to the 16th Century. The time-consuming and dangerous voyage round Cape Skaw was a serious problem for shipping between the Baltic and the North Sea. Regularly ships were lost at Skaw in severe gales. Voyages took a long time, thus making a fast and safe routing between the Baltic countries and Western Europe difficult. A first attempt to solve this problem was the Eider-Canal, opened in 1784 and passable for ships up to almost 300 tons. But it soon turned out that the Eider-Canal was too small, therefore new plans were made for a larger canal. The need for a large artificial waterway between the Baltic and the North Sea became more and more obvious during the 19th century's industrial revolution and political changes.

During the second half of the 19th century is was particularly Chancellor Otto von Bismarck who showed considerable interest in a canal linking the harbour of Kiel directly with the Elbe River and the North Sea. In 1878 the Hamburg-based German businessman and shipowner Herman Dahlström presented the German government a concept for a canal between the North Sea and the Baltic which could serve military purposes as well as merchant shipping. The original idea of Dahlström was to build the canal from Brunsbüttel to Eckernförde, a planning which was not realised. Eventually, in 1886, it was announced that a canal would be built from Brunsbüttel (located at the outer Elbe River) via Rendsburg to Kiel-Holtenau where it led into the Kiel Fjord.

On 3rd June 1887 Kaiser Wilhelm I laid the foundation stone of a North Sea – Baltic Canal. It took only eight years to realize the immense project. Overall costs were 156 million Mark. The Canal, until 1948 officially titled “Kaiser-Wilhelm-Kanal”, was finally opened by Kaiser Wilhelm II on 21st June 1895. The Kiel-Canal immediately became one of the most intensively used waterways worldwide, and so it was necessary to rebuild and extend it only a few years after the inauguration. Between 1907 and 1914 the Canal underwent a major rebuilding and widening at total cost of 242 million Marks.

Since then the Kiel-Canal has been modernized and extended several times. Today it represents a state-of-the-art waterway with latest facilities to ensure a smooth and fast passage. Latest computerized technology and experienced staff guide traffic in the Kiel-Canal to avoid any difficult or dangerous situations. The entire Canal and the traffic passing is continuously observed and controlled with the help of radar and other recent technological devices. New locks have been constructed in Kiel-Holtenau and Brunsbüttel, together with the original locks that are still working they guarantee a rapid transit without delay. Thanks to modern technology and efficient guiding of traffic, passing the Kiel-Canal takes only about seven hours. Bridges, ferries and a tunnel link the roads and rails leading through Schleswig-Holstein. The Kiel-Canal creates numerous jobs and has thus become a constituting factor for the whole of Schleswig-Holstein. The level of service provided in Kiel-Canal is today one of the best on artificial waterways world-wide.