The Holtenau lighthouse has been showing shipping the right way into the Kiel Canal since 1895. 

As a guidance and orientation tower, the Kiel Lighthouse marks the entrance to the Kiel Fjord, the Kiel-Flensburg-Way, the Kiel-Baltic Sea-Way and the Kiel-Fehmarnsund-Way. The Kiel lighthouse is the only one in Germany to house a pilot station: in addition to the watch room, which is equipped with AIS, radar and radio equipment, there are therefore sleeping quarters for the pilots and the technicians of the Lübeck Waterways and Shipping Office, within whose jurisdiction the lighthouse falls. The beacon is automated and is remotely monitored by the traffic control center in Travemünde. Red sectors warn ships of the shoals of Stoller Grund, Gabelsach and Kleverberg. The construction costs for the Kiel lighthouse were 9.5 million marks. On July 5, 1967, the lighthouse was ceremoniously put into operation.