KIEL  , the

chief naval port of Germany on the Baltic, a town of the Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein . Pop . (1900), 107,938; (1905), 163,710, including the incorporated suburbs . It is beautifully situated at the southern end on the Kieler Busen (bay or harbour of Kiel), 70 M. by rail N. from Hamburg . It consists of a somewhat cramped old town, lying between the harbour and a sheet of water called Kleiner Kiel, and a better built and more spacious new town, which has been increased by the incorporation of the garden suburbs of Brunswick and Diisternbrook . In the old town stands the palace, built in the 13th century, enlarged in the 18th and restored after a fire in 1838 . It was once the seat of the dukes of Holstein-Gottorp, who resided here from 1721 to 1773, and became the residence of Prince Henry of Prussia . Other buildings are the church of St Nicholas (restored in 1877—1884), dating from 1240, with a lofty steeple; the old town-hall on the market square; the church of the Holy Ghost; three fine modern churches, those of St James, and St Jurgen and of St Ansgar; and the theatre . Further to the north and facing the bay is the university, founded in 1665 by Christian Albert, duke of Schleswig, and named after him " Christian Albertina." The new buildings were erected in 1876, and connected with them are a library of 240,000 volumes, a zoological museum, a hospital, a botanical garden and a school of forestry . The university, which is celebrated as a medical school, is attended by nearly l000 students, and has a teaching staff of over roo professors and docents . Among other scientific and educational institutions are the Schleswig-Holstein museum of national antiquities in the old university buildings, the Thaulow museum (rich in Schleswig-Holstein wood-carving of the 16th and 17th centuries), the naval academy, the naval school and the school for engineers . The pride of Kiel is its magnificent harbour, which has a comparatively uniform depth of water, averaging 40 ft., and close to the shores 20 ft .

Its length is 11 m. and its breadth varies from m. at the southern end to 41- M. at the mouth . Its defences, which include two forts on the

west and four on the east side, all situated about 5 m. from the head of the harbour at the place (Friedrichsort) where its shores approach one another, make it a place of great strategic stength . The imperial docks (five in all) and ship-building yards are on the east side facingthe town, between Gaarden and Ellerbeck, and comprise basins capable of containing the largest war-ships afloat . The imperial yard employs 7000 hands, and another 7000 are employed in two large private ship-building works, the Germania (Krupp's) and Howalds' . The Kaiser Wilhelm Canal, commonly called the Kiel Canal, connecting the Baltic with the North Sea at Brunsbi.ittel, has its eastern entrance at Wik, 12 in . N. of Kiel (see GERMANY: Waterways) . The town and adjacent villages, e.g . Wik, Heikendorf and Laboe, are resorted to for sea-bathing, and in June of each year a regatta, attended by yachts from all countries, is held . The Kieler Woche is one of the principal social events in Germany, and corresponds to the " Cowes week " in England . Kiel is connected by day and night services with Korsor in Denmark by express passenger boats . The harbour yields sprats which are in great repute . The principal industries are those connected with the imperial navy and ship-building, but embrace also flour-mills, oil-works, iron-foundries, printing-works, saw-mills, breweries, brick-works, soap-making and fish-curing .

There is an important

trade in coal, timber, cereals, fish, butter and cheese . The name of Kiel appears as early as the loth century in the form Kyl (probably from the Anglo-Saxon Kille = a safe place for ships) . Kiel is mentioned as a city in the next century; in 1242 it received the Lubeck rights ; in the 14th century it acquired various trading privileges, having in 1284 entered the Hanseatic League . In recent times Kiel has been associated with the peace concluded in January 1814 between Great Britain, Denmark and Sweden, by which Norway was ceded to Sweden . In 1773 Kiel became part of Denmark, and in r866 it passed with the rest of Schleswig-Holstein to Prussia . Since being made a great naval arsenal, Kiel has rapidly developed in prosperity and population . See Prahl, Chronika der Stadt Kiel (Kiel, r856) ; Erichsen, Topographie des Landkreises Kiel (Kiel, 1898) ; H . Eckardt, Alt-Kiel in Wort and Bild (Kiel, 1899) ; P . Hasse, Das Kieler Stadtbuch, 1264—z289 (Kiel, 1875) ; Das alteste Kieler Rentebuch 1300, 1481, edited by C . Reuter (Kiel, 1893) ; Das zweite Kieler Rentebuch 1487, 1-586, edited by W . Stern (Kiel, 1904) ; and the Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft fur Kieler Stadtgeschichte (Kiel, 1877, 1904) .