Things to Do in Kiel, Germany: Walking Guide

Kiel is a German port city on the Baltic coast, known for its fjord, naval heritage and historic buildings. The best things to do in Kiel include exploring the old town, visiting maritime and industrial museums, and following the waterfront towards the canal and former fortifications. Neywo has a free audio guide for Kiel with 140 narrated places, available in 11 languages.

What to see in Kiel

Kiel’s sights are spread across the old town, the districts around the fjord and the former naval areas. These are some of the most interesting places to include in a visit.

Kiel Castle

Kiel Castle has a history reaching back to the thirteenth century, when it served as one of the secondary residences of the Gottorf dukes. Its appearance changed repeatedly through fire, decay and rebuilding, particularly during major alterations in the eighteenth century.

An air raid on January 4, 1944, caused extensive destruction, followed by fire. Most of the original castle was later demolished, and the ruins were removed in 1959. The Rantzau building, or Rantzau wing, is the main surviving part. During reconstruction in the 1960s, a modern brick east wing was built according to the dimensions of the earlier structure, alongside a low Historic State Hall.

Kiel Maritime Museum

The Kiel Maritime Museum occupies a former fish auction hall at Sartorikai. Designed by city architect Georg Pauly in 1910, the building originally contained two large basins for keeping fish fresh. After the fish market closed following the Second World War, the hall faced demolition before being declared a protected cultural monument in 1972.

The museum opened there in 1978 and tells the story of Kiel as a maritime city and its connections with ports around the world. Its displays include ship models, navigation instruments, figureheads and maritime paintings, as well as a model of Germany’s first submarine and an original sonar system. The nearby Seegarten museum pier extends the collection onto the water, with vessels including the rescue boat Hindenburg, the fireboat Kiel, the passenger ship Stadt Kiel and the buoy tender Bussard.

Warleberger Hof and the Kiel City Museum

At Dänische Straße 19, the Warleberger Hof houses the Kiel City Museum. The listed brick building is the last surviving aristocratic palace in Kiel and the only surviving private building in the old town from before 1864. The former noble court dates from 1616.

Since 1970, the museum has presented Kiel’s history and culture across three floors and around 500 square metres of exhibition space. Displays cover the city’s development, maritime heritage and role in the two world wars, using photographs, maps, documents, weapons, uniforms and tools. The vaulted cellar offers a glimpse into the history of the noble court, while changing exhibitions focus on art, culture and history.

Kunsthalle Kiel

The Kunsthalle Kiel is the city’s largest museum, located on Düsternbrooker Weg near the Schlossgarten and Kiel Fjord. Its shell-limestone façade combines Neo-Baroque and Art Nouveau influences, and two bison sculptures by August Gaul stand in front of the entrance.

The building was designed by Georg Lohr and constructed between 1908 and 1909. It was rebuilt in 1958 after severe damage during the Second World War, extended in 1986 and given a new entrance area facing the fjord in 2012. Since September 25, 2023, the Kunsthalle and its Antikensammlung have been closed for renovation.

Flandernbunker

The Flandernbunker on Kiel’s Hindenburgufer is a former naval bunker that now serves as a museum, memorial site and place for learning about war and peace. Built by the Navy in 1943 and 1944 as the T 750 high-rise naval bunker, it was intended to shelter 750 people but was often seriously overcrowded.

The concrete structure has walls more than two and a half metres thick, while parts of the ceiling reach four metres in thickness. Submariners, radio operators and the commandant of the Reichskriegshafen were among its original occupants; civilians were also allowed to shelter there towards the end of the war. Its current name dates from the Nazi period, when it was used to reinforce a heroic interpretation of the First World War.

Christianpris

At the narrowest point of Kiel Fjord, the fortified peninsula of Christianpris, also known as Festung Friedrichsort, reaches towards the Baltic Sea. It is the only sea fortress in Germany.

The Danish King Christian IV began building the fortress in 1632 on the Jernved peninsula to protect the area from German troops during the Thirty Years’ War. The settlement was captured by Swedish forces in December 1643 during the Torstenson War. Its original design had an irregular pentagonal shape, five bastions and a moat. Parts of the fortress have disappeared beneath vegetation, but sections of the southern and eastern moat and earthworks on three sides remain.

Ravensberg Watertower

The Ravensberg Watertower, or Wasserturm Ravensberg, is a distinctive landmark in Kiel’s Ravensberg district. Built in 1896, the former water tower has been converted into housing and has served this new purpose since 2015.

Alte Metallgießerei

The Alte Metallgießerei, also known as the Howaldtsche Metallgießerei, explores Kiel’s industrial past. The museum stands at Grenzstraße 1 on the north bank of the Schwentine, inside a historic building dating from 1884.

The structure has been a listed monument since 1992. The museum opened in May 2007 and has belonged to Kiel’s City and Maritime Museum since 2020.

Computermuseum der Fachhochschule Kiel

For a different perspective on Kiel’s history, the Computer Museum of Kiel University of Applied Sciences traces the development of computing from room-sized machines to pocket-sized computers. The museum occupies a four-storey Second World War bunker transformed into a museum over the course of a year.

Around 360 exhibits are displayed across approximately 800 square metres. Highlights include the electromechanical Z11 relay computer from 1958, built by Zuse KG, the 1.6-tonne Cyber 76 supercomputer and microcomputers from the 1990s. The collection began in December 1981, and the museum opened on June 14, 2011.

Kiel’s churches and historic buildings

Several churches add variety to Kiel’s architectural landscape. The Dankeskirche in Kiel-Holtenau is an evangelical church with recognized historical, artistic and urban significance. In the Blücherplatz district, the Ansgarkirche is a Protestant Lutheran church that once served three independent congregations before they joined as a single Ansgar congregation in 1996.

In Kiel-Elmschenhagen, the neo-Gothic Maria-Magdalenen Church was built in 1865 and 1866 to replace a medieval predecessor. Kanalpackhaus is another historic building to look out for, while the Machinery Museum Kiel-Wik presents historical technology in operation near the Kiel Canal.

Explore Kiel with a self-guided audio tour

A Kiel self-guided walking tour is an easy way to connect the city’s landmarks without joining a group. Neywo offers five walking tours, one bus route and one bike route in Kiel, with 140 narrated places in total.

The walks include:

• Kiel’s old town: from the Alter Markt to the castle on the fjord — 1.29 km, 69 minutes and 9 narrated stops.
• Whales, bison and herring: museums along the Kiel Fjord — 1.98 km, 60 minutes and 7 stops.
• Naval Kiel: bunker, garrison church and the canal lighthouse — 3.84 km, 96 minutes and 7 stops.
• Imperial Kiel: town hall, opera and the Holstenstrasse galleries — 1.85 km, 65 minutes and 8 stops.
• University quarter, synagogues and Blücherplatz — 3.88 km, 98 minutes and 8 stops.

There is also a 3.7 km bus route lasting 16 minutes with 6 stops, and a 3.6 km bike route lasting 18 minutes with 5 stops. The app tells the story of each place as you reach it, at your own pace, with no group and no schedule.

Download the free Kiel audio guide

Download Neywo to explore Kiel with stories connected to the old town, the fjord, its museums, churches, bunkers and canal. Choose a walk, bus route or bike route, follow the route at your own pace and let the narration begin when you arrive at each stop.

Kiel is one of the ports of Germany, and it can also be part of a wider trip through the country alongside cities such as Hamburg or Hanover.