Kiel Week
Encyclopedia
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. It is the largest sailing event in the world, and also one of the largest Volksfest
Volksfest
A Volksfest is a large event in Germany which combines a festival and a carnival. Admission to a Volksfest is free however you have to pay for each ride separately....
in Europe.
Procedure
Kiel Week is held annually in the last complete week in June, and opens officially on the preceding Saturday with the official Glasen, followed by the Holstenbummel. The "Soundcheck" is on the Friday before the official opening; it is a music festival across all the stages within the city. Kiel Week ends with a large fireworks display at 11 p.m. on Sunday, fired from pontoons or the quays at the HowaldtswerkeHowaldtswerke
Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft is a German shipbuilding company, headquartered in Kiel. In 2009 it was the largest shipyard in Germany and has more than 2,400 employees. It has been part of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems owned by ThyssenKrupp, since 2005...
, visible all across the Bay of Kiel
Bay of Kiel
The Bay of Kiel is a bay in the southwestern Baltic Sea, off the shores of Schleswig-Holstein in Germany and the islands of Denmark. It is connected with the Bay of Mecklenburg in the east, the Little Belt in the northwest, and the Great Belt in the North....
.
Most ship races begin at the Olympic harbor of Schilksee, also the center of most sporting activities during Kiel Week. Other good places to view sailing races of smaller ship types are along the Kiellinie at the west coast of the Bay of Kiel
Bay of Kiel
The Bay of Kiel is a bay in the southwestern Baltic Sea, off the shores of Schleswig-Holstein in Germany and the islands of Denmark. It is connected with the Bay of Mecklenburg in the east, the Little Belt in the northwest, and the Great Belt in the North....
.
Kiel Week usually gathers around 5,000 sailors, 2,000 ships, and about three million visitors each year. The event is organized in joint effort by the Yacht Club of Kiel, the Norddeutscher Regattaverein, the Hamburger Sailing Club
Hamburger Sailing Club
The Hamburger Segel-Club , is one of the oldest and most active sailing clubs in Germany. This club is located by the shores of the Alster, in the heart of the harbor city of Hamburg and is one of the organizers of the Kiel Week together with the Yacht Club of Kiel, the Verein Seglerhaus am...
, and the Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee
Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee
The Verein Seglerhaus am Wannsee is the second oldest yacht club in Germany after Segelclub RHE. It is located on the shores of the Greater Wannsee lake, southwest of Berlin....
.
While Kiel Week started out as a ship racing championship, it has long since become a large festival with many popular bands playing on public stages. They often play for free, although the corporate sponsors (many from the Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...
media and telecommunications industry) usually display their involvement prominently. Most of the stages can be found at the Kiellinie (the western side of the Kieler Förde from the Düsternbrook yacht harbor past the Schleswig-Holstein parliament building to the big inner city ferry harbor), and as of late, across the Hoernbridge
Hörn Bridge
The Hörn Bridge is a folding bridge in the city of Kiel in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. The bridge spans over the end of the Kiel Fjord and was designed by Gerkan, Marg and Partners.-Design and construction:...
to the Germania harbor and the Hörn. Another area of rich cultural activity is the city center (Rathausplatz, Holstenbrücke) and the area connecting the city center with the ferry harbor (Alter Markt, Dänische Straße, Schloßpark). Between the public stages and especially on the International Market on the Rathausplatz, food specialties from different countries can be eaten. Small street performances and street comedy are performed in many places. A special children's program is available at the Spiellinie.
Another special event is the Tall Ships Parade, often led by the Gorch Fock
Gorch Fock (1958)
The Gorch Fock is a tall ship of the German Navy . She is the second ship of that name and a sister ship of the Gorch Fock built in 1933. Both ships are named in honor of the German writer Johann Kinau who wrote under the pseudonym "Gorch Fock" and died in the battle of Jutland/Skagerrak in 1916...
, with more than 100 tall ships and traditional sailing ships and hundreds of yachts. The Tall Ships Parade is usually in the morning of the closing Sunday of Kiel Week. Gorch Fock is a sister ship to the USCGC Eagle (WIX-327)
USCGC Eagle (WIX-327)
The is a barque used as a training cutter for future officers of the United States Coast Guard. She is one of only two active commissioned sailing vessels in American military service, the other being the USS Constitution....
.
History
- June 23, 1882 20 sailing yachts (one of them DanishDenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
) participate in a ship race from Düsternbrook. Because of the large success the event is held annually in the following years. - 1889 The German Emperor Wilhelm II visits the ship races for the first time.
- 1892 More than 100 ships announce themselves for the ship races.
- 1894 The event is called Kiel Week for the first time in press reports. Emperor Wilhelm II is a regular visitor now.
- 1895 Opening of the Kiel CanalKiel CanalThe Kiel Canal , known as the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Kanal until 1948, is a long canal in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein.The canal links the North Sea at Brunsbüttel to the Baltic Sea at Kiel-Holtenau. An average of is saved by using the Kiel Canal instead of going around the Jutland Peninsula....
, then called Kaiser-Wilhelm-Kanal during Kiel Week. - 1907 25th anniversary of Kiel Week. Since then more than 6,000 ships have been racing at the event.
- 1914 New canal locks are opened during Kiel Week. On June 28 Archduke Franz Ferdinand of AustriaArchduke Franz Ferdinand of AustriaFranz Ferdinand was an Archduke of Austria-Este, Austro-Hungarian and Royal Prince of Hungary and of Bohemia, and from 1889 until his death, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne. His assassination in Sarajevo precipitated Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against Serbia...
is murdered in SarajevoSarajevoSarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
, leading to World War IWorld War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and interrupting Kiel Week. Between 1914-1918 Kiel Week is not held. - 1934 Kiel Week becomes an instrument of propaganda for the NazisNazismNazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
. - 1936 For the first time, Kiel is the location for the sailing contests at the Summer Olympics1936 Summer OlympicsThe 1936 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was held in 1936 in Berlin, Germany. Berlin won the bid to host the Games over Barcelona, Spain on April 26, 1931, at the 29th IOC Session in Barcelona...
. - 1937 Kiel Week is organized by the newly-formed Yacht-Club von DeutschlandYacht-Club von DeutschlandThe Yacht-Club von Deutschland , "Yacht Club of Germany", was a yacht club platform established in 1937 during Nazi rule in Germany.-History:The Sports Office of the Reich was founded in July 1934...
. - 1940–1946 During World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Kiel Week does not happen. - 1945 The first sailing week after the Second World War is held by the BritishUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
occupation army under the name "Kiel-Week". - 1947 A festival week in September is held under the name 'Kiel im Aufbau' ('Kiel in reconstruction').
- * End of June 1948 First Kiel Week after the war.
- September 1948 "Kiel im Aufbau" held for the second time.
- 1949 "Kiel im Aufbau" integrated into Kiel Week.
- 1950 Theodor HeussTheodor HeussTheodor Heuss was a liberal German politician who served as the first President of the Federal Republic of Germany after World War II from 1949 to 1959...
is the first President of GermanyPresident of GermanyThe President of the Federal Republic of Germany is the country's head of state. His official title in German is Bundespräsident . Germany has a parliamentary system of government and so the position of President is largely ceremonial...
to visit Kiel Week. - 1962 Important ScandinaviaScandinaviaScandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n theatre groups and orchestras set new accents for the cultural part of Kiel Week. - 1972 For the second time the sailing contests at the Summer Olympics1972 Summer OlympicsThe 1972 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from August 26 to September 11, 1972....
are held in Kiel, finishing with a Tall Ships Parade. - 1974 The Spiellinie becomes a permanent institution at Kiel Week after the initial success of the Olympic Spielstraße for children in 1972. It is established along the Kiellinie.
- 1982 100 years of Kiel Week celebrations.
- 1994 100th Kiel Week celebrations (during the First and Second World Wars, Kiel Week was suspended); co-operation agreement with boot DüsseldorfBoot DüsseldorfThe Düsseldorf International Boat Show , more commonly known as boot Düsseldorf or just boot , is one of the world's premier boat shows....
. - 1995 100 years of the Kiel CanalKiel CanalThe Kiel Canal , known as the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Kanal until 1948, is a long canal in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein.The canal links the North Sea at Brunsbüttel to the Baltic Sea at Kiel-Holtenau. An average of is saved by using the Kiel Canal instead of going around the Jutland Peninsula....
(formerly Kaiser-Wilhelm-Canal) celebrations.