Kiel Canal
After a night and morning at sea, we finally entered the Kiel or Nord-Ostsee Canal, the historic man-made channel that provides a short-cut across the Jutland Peninsula between the North and Baltic Seas. From 1887 to 1895, the canal was dug from Brunsbuttelkoog at the mouth of the Elbe River to Holtenau in Kiel Harbor on the Baltic. Its main purpose was to serve the German military.
As naval ships were built with larger dimensions, the canal also had to be enlarged between 1907 and 1914 to accommodate them. The canal is now 338 feet wide and 37 feet deep. The Germans owned and controlled the canal until after World War I. Then with the Treaty of Versailles (June 1919) the canal was internationalized. But in 1936 the treaty was repudiated by Adolf Hitler. At the conclusion of World War II, the conditions of the treaty were put back in force; so once again, the canal is the safest, shortest, and cheapest shipping route between the two seas.
Since the North Sea leading up to the canal and the canal itself are shallow waters, various pilots joined the Endeavor to guide us safely through. We were out on deck to watch the pilot jump from his little red boat to ours. We expected a death-defying leap, but the skilled ship and boat captains did their respective jobs so well that the pilot merely stepped from one vessel to the other.
Today while sailing through the peaceful, bucolic scenery of the 61-mile-long canal, it’s hard to imagine the war-torn history associated with this area. The naturalists spotted a number of birds, such as avocet, common shelduck, grey heron, mute swan, mallard, black-headed gull, common tern, wood pigeon, pied wagtail, and carrion crow. One particularly exciting sighting was of a white stork flying over our stern. Along the shore were numerous flowering trees, like horse chestnut with its erect inflorescences of white flowers and choke cherry.
With lectures on geology, history, and archaeology, the day proved to be a pleasant introduction to this fascinating part of Europe.
After a night and morning at sea, we finally entered the Kiel or Nord-Ostsee Canal, the historic man-made channel that provides a short-cut across the Jutland Peninsula between the North and Baltic Seas. From 1887 to 1895, the canal was dug from Brunsbuttelkoog at the mouth of the Elbe River to Holtenau in Kiel Harbor on the Baltic. Its main purpose was to serve the German military.
As naval ships were built with larger dimensions, the canal also had to be enlarged between 1907 and 1914 to accommodate them. The canal is now 338 feet wide and 37 feet deep. The Germans owned and controlled the canal until after World War I. Then with the Treaty of Versailles (June 1919) the canal was internationalized. But in 1936 the treaty was repudiated by Adolf Hitler. At the conclusion of World War II, the conditions of the treaty were put back in force; so once again, the canal is the safest, shortest, and cheapest shipping route between the two seas.
Since the North Sea leading up to the canal and the canal itself are shallow waters, various pilots joined the Endeavor to guide us safely through. We were out on deck to watch the pilot jump from his little red boat to ours. We expected a death-defying leap, but the skilled ship and boat captains did their respective jobs so well that the pilot merely stepped from one vessel to the other.
Today while sailing through the peaceful, bucolic scenery of the 61-mile-long canal, it’s hard to imagine the war-torn history associated with this area. The naturalists spotted a number of birds, such as avocet, common shelduck, grey heron, mute swan, mallard, black-headed gull, common tern, wood pigeon, pied wagtail, and carrion crow. One particularly exciting sighting was of a white stork flying over our stern. Along the shore were numerous flowering trees, like horse chestnut with its erect inflorescences of white flowers and choke cherry.
With lectures on geology, history, and archaeology, the day proved to be a pleasant introduction to this fascinating part of Europe.
