Kiel Week - History

History

• June 23, 1882 20 sailing yachts (one of them Danish) 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 Canal, 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 Austria is murdered in Sarajevo, leading to World War I and interrupting Kiel Week. Between 1914-1918 Kiel Week is not held.
• 1934 Kiel Week becomes an instrument of propaganda for the Nazis.
• 1936 For the first time, Kiel is the location for the sailing contests at the Summer Olympics.
• 1937 Kiel Week is organized by the newly-formed Yacht-Club von Deutschland.
• 1940–1946 During World War II, Kiel Week does not happen.
• 1945 The first sailing week after the Second World War is held by the British 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 Heuss is the first President of Germany to visit Kiel Week.
• 1962 Important Scandinavian 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 Olympics 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 Düsseldorf.
• 1995 100 years of the Kiel Canal (formerly Kaiser-Wilhelm-Canal) celebrations.