Kiel Walking Tour: Home of the Imperial Navy and the last German Kaiser

(108 reviews)

Kiel audio tour: Kiel Walking Tour: Home of the Imperial Navy and the last German Kaiser

This is a 2mi walking tour

It takes an average of 90 mins to complete.

Kiel

Germany

$11.99

Access all 30 locations offline with the VoiceMap app

Buy for a Group

Reviews

About the Tour

On the surface Kiel might look like a typical post-WWII German city but, beneath its facade, you’ll find a quaint port town that was once at the heart of the Imperial German Navy. On this walking tour, I’ll tell you how a little boy’s medical treatments led to the birth of that navy, and played a part in the start of the First World War.

Our walk starts outside the main cruise ship terminal and ends in Kiel’s old Market Square, in front of St. Nikolai Church. Along the way, I’ll tell you about the last German Kaiser’s impact on the city, and what pushed him to eventually abdicate the throne. You’ll hear about the compass Einstein invented while staying in Kiel and how it’s still used today. And you’ll find out why Kiel’s bureaucrats need a special qualification just to use the wooden lift inside the old Town Hall!

Along with many stunning parks, you’ll also see parts of the city you might never find on your own, including the Sailors’ Mutiny Memorial in Ratsdienergarten. I’ll also show you the statue of Kaiser Wilhelm I which stands proud in the garden of the destroyed Kiel Castle.

While winding through the city and alongside the harbour and parts of lake Kleiner Kiel, you can look forward to:

Sampling the finest ‘northern sausage by the sea’ and discovering what’s behind its deceptive name
Hearing about the city’s best-loved citizens, the seals at Aquarium
Learning where to buy your own super yacht
Finding out how and why Germany was split in two, thanks to 9,000 men with 9,000 shovels
Discovering the origins of Kiel Week, thought of as the Oktoberfest of north Germany (if Oktoberfest involved sailing)

Whether your cruise ship is stopping off in Kiel, or you’re an overland traveller, this tour is a valuable introduction to the city. Come and discover the secrets of Kiel with me and by the end of the tour, you’ll be chuckling at the surprising stories I have to share.

Allow for 90 minutes plus any extra time you may want to stop and enjoy the many cafes, restaurants, bars and bakeries the city has to offer. And don’t forget to try a world famous German beer from the city’s old monastic brewery at the end of the tour.

Tour Producer

Kirk Wilson

2 tours

I’m a New Zealander who chased a beautiful girl to Germany, accidentally stayed, and somehow became a professional guide along the way.

I founded Kiel Walking Tours in 2016 to help the tourists I kept seeing wandering around looking for the good bits of the city. Since then I've guided thousands of cruise passengers, students, and visitors just like you through the city.

I’m not a historian with a head for dates, but rather a storyteller shaped by my day job as an intercultural communication and language lecturer at the University of Applied Sciences in Kiel. I spend my days helping people make sense of unfamiliar places and cultures and hope that carries through into my guiding as well.

My tours are good for a laugh, and if I've done my job right you just might learn a thing or two along the way, all without having felt like you've sat through a history lecture.

Preview Location

Location 4

Kaiser Bill and the Imperial Navy

Continue along the waterfront taking in the sights. I'll tell you later when to stop.

As you look out over the harbour I'd like to tell you a story about a guy who is very important in the shaping of Kiel. He goes by the name of Kaiser Wilhelm the second, the last German K... Continue along the waterfront taking in the sights. I'll tell you later when to stop.

As you look out over the harbour I'd like to tell you a story about a guy who is very important in the shaping of Kiel. He goes by the name of Kaiser Wilhelm the second, the last German Kaiser, or Emperor. Now Kaiser Bill has a rather interesting story to tell, and his story ripples out over Kiel, even today. Kaiser Bill, when he was born, unfortunately had one arm significantly shorter than the other. In fact his left arm was about 15cm (that's 6 inches) shorter than his right arm. This was a time when the kings and queens of Europe were viewed as gods among men. And here was this little boy, born with a very visible weakness. His parents knew he would grow up one day and inherit the throne and they wanted to make sure that their little boy would not be viewed as weak. So they asked the greatest medical minds in Europe to come and to heal their little boy. The first doctor came. And every night before they put their baby down to bed for the night, they would take a live rabbit, and gut it. And put the fist of the little boy inside the belly of the rabbit, so that the life force of the spasming body would go into the arm of the boy and grow his arm. After six months, they realised this wasn't working, so they asked for the second greatest medical mind to come, and this guy, even though he lived 150 years ago, had seen the Tom Hanks classic 'Forrest Gump'. He built a mechanical contraption, like that in the film which was placed over the child's shoulder and neck to try and strengthen and grow his arm from above. After eleven years they realised that this too was not working. So this little boy was tortured everyday by his own family and reminded he was weak and not strong enough to be king.

At the same time, this little boy used to spend the summer holidays, with his grandmother, in England - Queen Victoria. Probably the greatest monarch the world has ever seen. At that time the British Empire was at its absolute peak. The British navy ruled the seven seas and Queen Victoria ruled over more than sixty countries in the world. Including the best country in the world - New Zealand, where I'm from. And the worst country in the world - Australia. This little boy learned what strength and power meant. Strength came from having a powerful navy. So when he inherited the throne and became emperor of Germany he wanted to emulate the power he had seen his grandmother wield. Therefore, one of the first things he decided to do, when he became the Kaiser was to build a navy to demonstrate his might. And he chose Kiel and the shipyard with the big blue cranes across the water to your right to build it for him.

Kiel, before Kaiser Bill, had been a relatively sedate, but prosperous fishing town. Yet now, it rapidly grew with the growth of the ship yard, and the rise of the Imperial German Navy. At its peak the shipyard employed 80,000 men producing war ships for the Kaiser. The harbour started filling up. Every three months, bam, bam, bam a new warship. 80, 100, 120m long. The city of Kiel exploded. Of course, the British, didn't just think 'oh, how nice, our cousin Bill has got some toy boats to play with. No, they viewed this as a very serious threat and in fact, was one of the contributing factors that lead to the First World War.

On the other side of the harbour, where the shipyard is, is where the workers lived. On this side, where you're walking was where the officers' and captains lived. Now Kiel today is still split in half by the harbour. And still has this general split in the city between the east and west sides exists today just like the days of the Kaiser. Those that 'have' live on this side, and on other side, those who 'have less'.

Kaiser Bill didn't just want to have his Imperial Navy here in the Baltic Sea where we are, but he also wanted to have a base on the west coast of Germany on the North Sea as well. And so he set about building a shipyard on that coast too, and founded a town in doing so, which he very so humbly had named after himself Wilhelmshaven, or in English Wilhelm's Harbour. So he had a part of his navy on the west coast, and a part of his navy on the east coast, here in Kiel. But he wanted to be able to join his navy together, to create a super fleet. So he got 9000 men and gave them 9000 shovels and they split Germany in two. In just 8 years. Absolutely insane. The entrance to the Kiel Canal is just north of the city but we're not going to go there today. The Kiel Canal has more sea traffic than the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal combined and is used to travel between the Baltic and North Seas without having to travel around the top of Denmark. It is a truly remarkable feat of engineering wonder.

Keep going along the waterfront. Read More

View locations and route

How VoiceMap Works

Focus on your surroundings, not the screen

The VoiceMap app uses GPS to play audio automatically, at the right time and place, so you can focus on your surroundings, not the screen.

Follow a route with turn-by-turn-directions

VoiceMap tours follow a route from a fixed starting point. That lets us give turn-by-turn directions and use context to tell a better story.

Resume playback to go at your own pace

If you'd like to stop for a drink or go into a museum, end your tour then use the Resume feature to pick up exactly where you left off.

Listen as many times as you like

You can listen to your tours as often as you like using both the VoiceMap app and website.

Take virtual tours anywhere, like a podcast

Select Virtual mode in the VoiceMap app to listen to tours like a podcast - at home or in transit.

Buy for less on voicemap.me and sync

Once you've purchased a tour, it's added to your VoiceMap library. To access it in the app, just sign in using the same account.

Do tours without paying for data

Tours work offline, so you don't have to pay roaming fees. Just download them over WiFi before you get started.

Major Landmarks

Kiel Waterfront
Harbourside Aquarium
Ostseekai Cruise Ship Terminal
Kiel Castle
Schloßgarten
Old Town Hall
Market Square
Monastic Kiel Brewery
Ratsdienergarten
Kleiner Kiel
Spirit Fighter Statue
Rathausturm Kiel
Ostseekai
Der Geistkämpfer
St. Nikolai Church
Aquarium GEOMAR
Schloßgarten
Kiellinie
Kieler Brauerei am Alten Markt
Alter Markt
Kleiner Kiel

View all

Getting There

Route Overview

VoiceMap tours follow a route from a set starting point. It’s how we give turn-by-turn directions and tell a story greater than the sum of its parts.

Start location
Wall 65, 24103 Kiel, Germany
Total distance

3km
Final location
Schloßstraße 6, 24103 Kiel, Germany
Distance back to start location

433.53m

Directions to Starting Point

This tour starts from directly outside the main Kiel cruise ship terminal (Ostseekai). If you are coming to Kiel by ship, this is where your cruise ship will be docked.

Show Directions

Gift vouchers

Buy tours for friends and family who delight in discovery

Buy Now

Buy for a group

Get 15% to 50% off when you buy for a group

Buy Now

License this tour

Adapt this tour to use your brand and suit your guests

Find out more

Tips

Places to stop along the way

Stop to watch the seals feeding at the aquarium or try a local fish roll on the waterfront. The old monastic Kiel Brewery is also right next to the last stop of the tour where you can find a traditional German schnitzel or try a local pilsner.

Best time of day

All year round.

Precautions

If it's raining don't forget to bring a rain jacket. Umbrellas aren't much use in the wind.

Get The App

Download tours to use them offline

Listen hands-free with GPS playback

Get turn-by-turn directions

Scan the QR Code

“This app has become my go-to app for audio tours. I pretty much use it for every trip and it works wonderfully. I highly recommend VoiceMap for travelers to truly experience cities.”

App Store Review

“Great app. walk around at your own pace, stop where you want, move on or speed up when you want. Read the script before you go or during the commentary, speed it up or replay it. Repeat the tour whenever you like.”