Kiel week 2013

The official opening of Kiel Week is scheduled each year on the Saturday of the last full week of June, and this yachting holiday ends on the ninth day, Sunday, with a spectacular fireworks display in the center of the Bay of Kieler (Kieler Foerde). Kiel Week 2013 will delight and delight visitors and exhibitors from 22 to 30 June.

Along with the regatta, one of the exciting highlights of the Kiel week is the traditional "Parade of old vessels" (Windjammerparade), which takes place on the last day of the holiday every year since 1998. More than 100 old large-tonnage windjammer sailing vessels, vessels of traditional design and hundreds of yachts leave the port and slowly sail across the entire bay. It is better to take spectator places on the shore in advance. The parade of ships is clearly visible in many places on the embankments, on the beaches (Heikendorf, Kitzeberg), by the lighthouse Holtenau.

From a bird's eye view, the spectacle looks mesmerizing. The parade line is gradually overgrown with sails, becoming denser every minute. But to the surprise of the public, in such a dense cluster of yachts, there are no accidents or collisions. All the participants of the parade show the beauty and grace of masts, hulls and silhouettes to the numerous spectators who have gathered along the shores of the Kiel Bay. The parade continues until late in the evening, when the last participants in the parade dock at the city docks, where participants and spectators can enjoy live music and dance at the concert venues.

Windjammerparade

Throughout the Kiel week, there is a music festival and folk festivities with popular musicians and bands from all over the world representing a variety of musical styles. In the open air, folklore festivals are organized on numerous stages throughout the city. Street theaters, theaters for children, daily performances on the harbor boulevard, magicians and jugglers are not a complete list of entertainment.

In addition, guests of Kiel can visit art galleries, the city museum, outdoor museums and many other attractions. The Werftpark theater, opera, ballet and many other cultural centers and venues regularly offer a variety of exciting, entertaining and sometimes eccentric performances.

At the boat show in Dusseldorf in January of this year, the President of the City of Kiel and concurrently Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the organizing company of the Kiel Week Katie Kitzer stated:

"World-class yachting, top-class cultural events, incredible sporting events and Europe's largest open-air children's entertainment center await visitors to Kiel Week 2013."

The organizers promise more exciting events for visitors, interesting programs on TV and on the Internet in real time.

“We want yachtsmen to feel even more comfortable and to be in the spotlight this year,” said the chairman of the Kiel week regatta committee Sven Christensen.

The main sporting event of the Kiel week is the sailing regatta. This is one of the most famous sailing races in the world. Of course, some innovations await the regatta in the first year of the Olympic cycle. First of all, this is a new system for determining the winners, which caused a fairly large wave of criticism from yachtsmen, but at the same time is designed to work for the entertainment of the regatta as a whole. All 10 Olympic sailing disciplines are included in the Kiel Week program. Including two new Olympic 49th FX for women, Nacra 17 for mixed crews, Paralympic 2.4mR. There are 17 international classes in total, including Musto-Skiffs and B / one, as well as 18 Offshore classes.

Traditionally, a lot of attention is paid to children in Kiel, and this is not only the races in the international children's classes. Children can get their first yachting experience at the Sea Camp, which operates on a 24 hours a day, 7 days a week principle. The Sailing City Kiel team offers an exciting water program for children, riding them in rowing fours, yachts, catamarans, motor boats and speedboats. The Marine Camp invites the youngest sailors to attend open events, both on weekends and during summer holidays, completely free of charge.

Keel this is the German gateway to the sea, and Kiel Canal Germany's most visited artificial waterway. From January to December, almost 50 thousand ships sail from the Baltic to the North Sea via the Kiel Canal. Guided tours or private visits to the observation deck allow you to watch cruise ships, giant container ships, graceful yachts and speedboats pass through the Kiel Canal.

It is hard to believe that half a century ago the city was practically destroyed. Including the Church of St. Nicholas, the patron saint of sailors. It is the same age as Kiel and was built in 1242. But in 1945, only a pile of stones lay in its place. The church was restored in five years according to the preserved drawings and proposals of the architect Gerhard Langmack from Hamburg.

With the construction of the new Ostuferhafen cruise terminal, Kiel has become the number one cruise ship harbor in Germany.

Snow-white liners drop anchor here up to 140 times every season. Together with numerous ferries, they carry over 1.5 million passengers a year. Due to this traffic, the bay sometimes becomes quite crowded and therefore impressive cornering maneuvers can often be observed.

2,200 yacht berths and berths are always ready not only to shelter, but also to provide high-quality service to guests who came here on their yacht. Thanks to this, the city has become a kind of sailing Mecca in Germany. Countless number of regattas from small club to the largest international ones delight the eye with an abundance of sails on the water.

There are many interesting things on the shore. If you enjoy enjoying the marine lifestyle, you can do so at one of the many beaches along the Kiel Bay. Among the picturesque dunes and beautiful bodies of water, you will sunbathe, walk, play and, of course, build sand castles.

Tired of the beach? Let's go to the city! One of the busy streets Holstenstrasse the oldest shopping street in the country. There are many boutiques, antique and jewelry stores, fashion salons, bakeries, from where it smells so sweet that the spirit freezes. In a variety of cafes and restaurants, gourmets will find for themselves a rich selection of Baltic Sea dishes, after which they can afford to stroll around the shops, in a special atmosphere saturated with the same sea.

To immerse yourself in this atmosphere even more will help Nautical museumlocated right in the port pedestrian zone (Kiellinie)... Not far from the Maritime Museum is the Art Gallery, the oldest art gallery in Schleswig-Holstein... In addition to the collection of antique exhibits, it contains paintings, sculptures and objects from the 18th century. Nearby is the Institute of Marine Science, and next door is an aquarium, which has 150 species of fish. Particularly attractive attraction for kids and adults is the feeding of seals in the outdoor pool.

Enchanting Kiel Sailing Week, theater carnivals, concerts and festivals, which is rightly considered one of the oldest traditional events on the water in Europe, will be held this year for the 131st time and will gladly open its arms to you.

A bit of history: June 23, 1882 can be considered the birthday of the Kiel week. It was on this day that the first sailing boat race took place, in which 20 yachts took part. The event was a huge success and it was decided to hold it annually. Just 10 years later, more than 100 sailing ships took part in the regatta, and since 1894 it was called the Kiel week. In 1907, on the 25th anniversary of the Kiel week, 6,000 ships took part in the regatta! And in 1936, sailing competitions of the Summer Olympic Games were held in Kiel for the first time.

Construction of the Olympic Center Kiel-Schilksee

Kiel week 1912

Over the years, the German emperor Wilhelm II, the first president of post-war Germany, Theodor Heuss, Norwegian Prime Minister Einar Gerhardsen and many other politicians, businessmen and members of the reigning dynasties, came to the Kiel week. In 1972, the water area of the Bay of Kiel met the Olympic Games for the second time. Every year the organizers tried to raise the level of the festival and make it as interesting as possible. The 2013 season will not be an exception.

Kiel week (Kieler Woche)

Information:

How to visit this festival?

Kiel Week website: www.kieler-woche.de

Kiel Tourist Information Office: +49 (0) 431679100

If the way by sea is difficult for you, you can get there differently:

By plane: Hamburg International Airport: daily international flights and shuttle service to Kiel (bus / shuttle). Lubeck airport: international flights Ryanair, Wizzair, you can get to Kiel by train

By train: Kiel main train station is right in the center, just a few meters from the pier, bus station and central taxi station

By car: You can get directly to the center of Kiel via the A7, A210, A215 motorways. Distances: to Hamburg - 90 km, to Lubeck - 80 km, to Hanover - 250 km, to Berlin - 350 km

Text: Sergey Shumilov, Vladimir Sotnikov Photo: KW

08.01.2013