Port of Kiel, Germany

ABOUT

Count Adolf IV of Holstein founded Kiel in 1233 as Holstenstadt Tom Kyle, and his son John I of Schauenburg granted it Lübeck city rights in 1242. The city’s name may come from the Anglo-Saxon word kille, which means “a safe place for ships”.

Kiel joined the Hanseatic League in 1284, a commercial confederation that granted it trading privileges. However, the city was expelled in 1518 for harbouring pirates.

Kiel was largely destroyed during World War II, including a major fire at the naval dockyard in 1943. The city has since been rebuilt with many green spaces.

It’s location on the Kiel Fjord, an inlet of the Western Baltic Sea, makes it an important maritime center and transport hub. Kiel is famous for hosting the annual Kiel Week, the world’s largest sailing event, and is also home to some of Europe’s largest shipyards.

Population in 2019 was just under 250,000

Currency is the Euro.

THINGS TO DO

Kiel’s long established city gives it a colourful history and much can be seen today through various exhibitions, buildings and museums.

In the old town, the rebuilt, medieval St. Nikolai Church,

hosts classical concerts. Along the Kiel Fjord, the Maritime Museum displays model ships and nautical instruments in a former fish auction hall.

There is a hop-on-hop-off bus tour, various walking tours, a zoological museum, Botanical gardens, beaches and boat tours to name but a few.

You may choose to explore outside of the city to visit the Sea Life Centre, the nearby town of Lubeck or even the Laboe Naval Memorial Complex. Or for the more adventurous perhaps even a trip to Hamburg.

OUR FAVOURITE THINGS TO DO

Our visit to Kiel in 2024 was our first so we thought, to make the most of our visit, we would take a ship tour. Together with our friends Bob and Holly, we had all decided we would like to visit the Laboe Naval Memorial Complex and Submarine U995.

The town of Laboe is situated about 30 minute drive from Kiel, at the mouth of Kiel Fjord.

Started in 1927 and completed in 1936 the monument originally memorialised the World War I war dead of the Kaiserliche Marine, with the Kriegsmarine dead of World War II being added after 1945.

In 1954, it was rededicated to commemorate the sailors of all nationalities who died during the World Wars.

We make no apologies for spending time depicting this monument – Lest We Forget.

The monument consists of a 72-metre-high (236 ft) tower topped by an observation deck. The deck stands a total 85 m (279 ft) above sea level.

The Hall of Remembrance and museum is very moving.

There is a lift (elevator) that takes you to the viewing platform on the tower. For those who wish, there is a further short climb up stairs to the very top. The views are quite beautiful.

The Information area at the base of the tower is full of memorial information. Quite staggering depictions of the number of vessels sunk in WWI on one side and WWII on the other.

You are then able to walk down stairs into the Hall of Remembrance and quite rightly there is a request for silence when you are there. You cannot fail to be moved by this Memorial. Take a little time to look at the number of ribbons surrounding the centre. They are from countries all around the world.

The centre piece is surrounded by nations who have their own memorial area. Including the display of Poppies for the British Memorial.

Walking back up to ground level brings you into a museum area. There are ship models to see here and other memoriabilia, together with stained glass memorial windows.

However some of the most interesting pieces are the stories depicted here. There are pictures of a number of naval servicemen, British and German in particular.

The story of John Travers Comwell caught our eye. Known as Jack and born in January 1900, he joined the Royal Navy in Devonport in July 1915. After 9 months of training he joined HMS Chester which was involved in the Battle of Jutland on 31 May 1916. The ship came under heavy fire and Jack was mortally wounded. Despite this he stayed steady at his post ready to follow orders. His devotion to duty earned him both the nation’s respect and a posthumous Victoria Cross. He was one of the youngest recipients during WW1.

The outside area of this Museum is very tranquil. The central area surrounded with a peaceful park area. Again that contains an open air display that is worth looking at.

The final part of this area is where Submarine U995 stands as a permanent exhibit.

This German submarine U-995 is a Type VIIC/41 of Nazi Germany’s . She was laid down on 25 November 1942 by Blohm & Voss in Hamburg, Germany, and on 16 September 1943.

On 25th April 1944 U995 sailed to Norway in readiness for the suspected invasion. In the middle of May she was attacked by a Sunderland Flying boat. She lost five men in the encounter but was only slightly damaged.

At the end of WW2 she was handed to the Norwegian Navy as part of their War Reparations. She was re-fitted and returned to service in 1952 with the name Kaura. After another 10 years she was laid up and eventually returned to Germany and converted the museum. She has been in situ since 1972.

More of her story can be found here.

And so to the end of an interesting and informative visit to the Laboe Naval Memorial Complex.

Nearby to the complex and on the way back to the bus, is a cafe which serves drinks and snacks. There is also a small souvenir area there.

This half day trip from the ship was certainly worthwhile and we would recommend considering it.

To check out our experiences in Kiel just click the video below – and if you enjoy the content simply ‘Like’ and ‘Subscribe’ to see more (subscription is free).