Maritime Museum

The development of Kiel is inextricably linked with shipping. Kiel was already designed as a port city when it was founded in 1242. With its location at the end of the long fjord, the town, which was initially called Holstenstadt tom Kyle, offered ships natural protection.

The impressive museum building on the shore of the fjord - designed by city architect Georg Pauly - was inaugurated in 1910 as the city's fish hall. Here, wholesale and retail trade, which until then had been decentralized at the harbor, was now concentrated under one roof.

In the center of the tiled hall, which at the time met the latest hygienic standards, were two eight-meter-long basins for keeping the fish fresh. This was where the morning wholesale auctions took place. In the surrounding cabinets, the fish retailers had their stores. But fish has not been sold there for a long time.

The fish hall, whose architecture deliberately picks up on traditional, regional stylistic elements, survived the Second World War largely unscathed. However, it was no longer used for fish trading after the opening of a new sea fish market at the mouth of the Schwentine River in 1948. 

After a long period of vacancy, it was decided in 1966 to demolish the building, but fortunately this did not happen. Since 1972, the historic fish hall has been a listed building and has been entered in the list of cultural monuments of the city of Kiel.

Founded in 1978, the Kiel Maritime Museum is now one of the most important museum facilities in the state capital of Kiel. The building, which was already extensively renovated once in 2014, takes an extensive look at the maritime history of the city with a focus on the 19th and 20th centuries. 

After the successful special exhibition on the history of the Kiel sailors' uprising of 1918, the Kiel City and Maritime Museum now presents a modern relaunch of the permanent exhibition on Kiel's maritime history.