KIEL CANAL

The Kiel Canal, which runs from the mouth of the Elbe River to the Baltic Sea, at Kiel, Germany. German Nord-ostsee-kanal (North SeaBaltic Sea Canal), waterway extending eastward for 61 miles (98 km) from Brunsbttelkoog (on the North Sea, at the mouth of the Elbe River) to Holtenau (at Kiel Harbour on the Baltic Sea), in northern Germany. The canal is 338 feet (103 m) wide and 37 feet (11 m) deep and is spanned by seven high-level bridges (about 140 feet high). It constitutes the safest, most convenient, shortest, and cheapest shipping route between the two seas. The canal, built between 1887 and 1895, initially served German military needs by eliminating the necessity for ships to travel northward around the Danish peninsula. It was enlarged between 1907 and 1914 to accommodate large naval ships. Prior to World War I, the canal (then known as the Kaiser-Wilhelm Canal) was owned by the German government. The Treaty of Versailles (June 28, 1919) laid down regulations that, in effect, internationalized the canal, while leaving it under German administration. Traffic on the canal was subject only to general police, shipping, sanitary, and customs regulations. These provisions were repudiated by Adolf Hitler in 1936. Since World War II, the canal has been in the Land (state) of Schleswig-Holstein, and the conditions of the Treaty of Versailles guaranteeing freedom of navigation have again been practiced. The canal remains an important route for Baltic shipping.