Not only the construction of the Kiel Canal is a milestone, the opening in 1895 is also an event of superlatives. Kaiser Wilhelm II wishes a fitting celebration for the prestige project of the German Empire.

A three-day, million-dollar festival that begins on June 19, 1895 in Hamburg is at state expense. After a celebratory meal in the town hall, we go to the Alster for a cup of coffee. For this purpose, a 6,000 square meter island will be built on 760 poles for 1,600 invited guests. Then it goes in the direction of the port to set off in the direction of Brunsbüttel with the imperial yacht "Hohenzollern". After passing through the new lock, the yacht continues to Kiel, followed by a parade of 23 ships with princes, princes and the Russian Tsar on board. The passage takes eight and a half hours.

Three-day party costs 1.7 million Reichsmark

The actual opening then took place on June 21, 1895 in Kiel. On the fairground in Holtenau, which is decorated with garlands and flags, there are two large grandstands that can accommodate 5,000 guests. Soldiers in historical uniforms stand guard. There's also a purpose-built dock, hotel ship, pedestal, gardens, and sailing ship-shaped inn - all for the Emperor.

Yachts, roses, cannon fire:Kaiser Wilhelm II lets it rip

After the laying of the keystone with the obligatory hammer and cannon strikes, there is an opulent banquet with around 1,000 aristocratic guests at 100 meter long tables, which are decorated with over 120,000 roses. This program item alone devoured 100,000 Reichsmarks. A festive procession on water follows with state yachts, war and passenger ships. One of the first silent films in history captures the spectacle. The three-day opening festival costs Wilhelmine taxpayers 1.7 million Reichsmarks. But it is worth it to the young Kaiser Wilhelm II. After all, the artificial watercourse made it possible for his war fleet to pass quickly between the North and Baltic Seas.

NOK:A channel for commercial and military purposes

The Kiel Canal has a predecessor:the Schleswig-Holstein Canal, which the Danish King Christian VII had built from 1777 to 1784. The waterway, renamed the Eider Canal in 1853, begins in Kiel and flows into the Eider near Rendsburg, which flows into the North Sea near Tönning. But the journey from the North Sea to the Baltic Sea, through the Eider and the Wadden Sea, still took several days.

The Kiel Canal was built in the century

The reason for the construction of a new canal are military-strategic considerations:The Schleswig-Holstein Canal has long been too small for the German warships and is not considered to be expandable. As early as 1864 - the German-Danish War had just begun - the Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck ordered a new waterway between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea to be designed. It should be possible for the German fleet "to get from the Baltic Sea to the North Sea at any time without having to pass under Danish guns".

But it was not until 1878, after the founding of the German Reich, that the plans became more concrete:the Hamburg shipowner and businessman Hermann Dahlström, nicknamed "Kanalström", presented the Reich government with a concept for the construction of a canal that combined commercial and military interests . The canal is intended to connect the Kiel Fjord with the Elbe near Brunsbüttel and, like its predecessor, use existing watercourses. Kaiser Wilhelm I was soon inspired to build a new canal.

Solemn laying of the foundation stone in 1887

On June 3, 1887, Kaiser Wilhelm I laid the foundation stone with great pomp in the Holtenau district of Kiel. In front of 1,000 guests of honor and an imposing backdrop with a parade of ships, the monarch hit the stone several times with a hammer. The celebrations have lasted for two days. The next eight years are less exuberant:more than 8,000 workers work ten hours a day for 30 pfennigs per hour to realize the ambitious construction plans.

Millions of cubic meters of earth are moved during canal construction

More than 80 million cubic meters of earth are excavated by excavator or by hand. The embankments are strengthened and huge lock systems are built at the end points in Brunsbüttel and Kiel-Holtenau to protect the canal from water level fluctuations caused by the ebb and flow. Accidents happen again and again:construction workers fall from scaffolding or are killed by falling objects. Cholera breaks out among the workers, but can be contained relatively quickly.

Within eight years, the Kiel Canal will be a waterway 98.65 kilometers long, 67 meters wide and nine meters deep. The gigantic building devoured 156 million gold marks, and Kaiser Wilhelm II retrospectively introduced the sparkling wine tax to finance it.

The construction of the canal is changing the landscape of Schleswig-Holstein even more than its predecessor. Farms and towns must be relocated. Municipalities like Sehestedt near Rendsburg are being cut in two and farms are being severed.

Giant celebration - for the "Kaiser Wilhelm Canal"

Kaiser Wilhelm I did not live to see the canal completed. Instead, on June 21, 1895, it was his grandson Kaiser Wilhelm II who inaugurated the canal. He probably does this with enthusiasm, since the Imperial Navy is his "favorite toy", with which the German Reich strives for international recognition. The name Kiel Canal can be found in all documents up to 1895. But when the canal was christened, Kaiser Wilhelm II gave the structure the name "Kaiser Wilhelm Canal", probably spontaneously and on his own initiative.

Constant expansion

Regular operation of the canal, known internationally as the "Kiel Canal", begins on July 1, 1895. However, as a result of technical advances and the introduction of capital ships, it soon becomes apparent that the waterway is too small and needs to be expanded again. From 1907 to 1914 the canal was expanded for the first time. The canal is 102.5 meters wide and eleven meters deep. New bridges and locks are added.

Back to the Kiel Canal under pressure from the Allies

In the course of the First and Second World Wars and the interim economic crisis, the canal fell into disrepair. In 1948 the Allies ordered the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal to be renamed the Kiel Canal. After several safety works in the post-war period, another expansion phase begins in 1965 - the section between Brunsbüttel and Königsfoerder Weiche near Sehestedt is widened to 162 meters. Further modernizations follow until 2001. In order to make the canal passable for future cargo ship generations, however, further expansions are necessary. New locks are already under construction and the fairway is to be widened.

Important shipping route and tourist magnet

Today the Kiel Canal is the busiest artificial sea shipping route in the world. At peak times, almost 30,000 freighters and cruise ships pass through it every year - but the numbers are falling rapidly. Tourists and day-trippers are also drawn to the water, with its cycle paths and pedestrian paths close to nature, the extensive ferry service and the imposing bridges, the canal is a popular destination.