Opening of the Kiel Canal

Date: June 20, 1895 • Location: Brunsbüttel, Germany

The Kiel Canal, crossing the base of the Jutland peninsula and the busiest artificial waterway in the world, is officially opened.

The Kiel Canal is a 98-kilometer-long (61 mi) freshwater canal that links the North Sea to the Baltic Sea. It runs through the German state of Schleswig-Holstein, from Brunsbüttel, at the mouth of the Elbe, to Holtenau, on the Kiel Fjord. It was constructed between 1887 and 1895 and widened between 1907 and 1914. In addition to the two sea entrances, the canal is linked at Oldenbüttel to the navigable River Eider by the short Gieselau Canal.