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TheBay of Kiel orKiel Bay (German:Kieler Bucht,German pronunciationⓘ;Danish:Kiel Bugt) is abay in the southwesternBaltic Sea, off the shores ofSchleswig-Holstein inGermany and the islands ofDenmark. It is connected with theBay of Mecklenburg in the east, theLittle Belt in the northwest, and theGreat Belt in the North.
Maritime traffic entering or leaving the Baltic through the two Belts must enter the bay. Once in, through traffic to the Baltic passes through another strait, theFehmarn Belt, into theBay of Mecklenburg, which opens out into the Baltic Sea. In the other direction, traffic can either pass northward through the Great Belt, keepingLangeland on the port side, or enter theKiel Fjord and traverse theKiel Canal directly to the mouth of theElbe River and theNorth Sea. The Kiel Fjord ends atKiel, the capital of Schleswig-Holstein.
The southwest shore of the bay is the coast of Schleswig-Holstein. From the latter drains theSchlei inlet, actually abrackish estuary, at the head of which is the city named after it,Schleswig. In that coast also are two other smaller bays: theEckernförde Bay and theFlensburg Fjord. In the north are the Danish islands ofAls,Ærø, and Langeland.
Kieler Förde, projecting from the bay to the south, is about 17 km long and 1 km wide at its narrowest point. The strategic location was not lost on the founders ofHolstein, of which Kiel was intended to be a major city. It became a prolific shipyard, which made it a prime target of allied bombing inWorld War II. Before the foundation of Kiel in 1242 and the construction of a walled city there, the region could not have escaped settlement, especially by theVikings. Any archaeological trace of them, however, either lies under the city or was disturbed long ago.
Eckernförde Bay is about 16 km long and turns at the mouth, with the south bank on approximately ten km of the Bay of Kiel. The border with Kiel Fjord is at Bülker lighthouse. The once forested peninsula between Kiel Fjord and Eckernförde Bay formed the borderland between theSaxons and theDanes in theMiddle Ages. It was termed theDanish Wold. North of Eckernförde Bay is theSchwansen region; at the end of the bay is the city ofEckernförde. The bay itself hosted thesailing events for the1936 Summer Olympics mainly held inBerlin.
The 42-kmSchlei forms the border between the historical regionsAngeln andSchwansen. This part of the bay hosted thesailing competitions for the1972 Summer Olympics held in mainly heldMunich,Bavaria.
Flensburg Fjord is approximately 50 km long. It forms part of the border between Germany and Denmark and marks north border ofAngeln.
54°31′12″N10°24′24″E / 54.52000°N 10.40667°E /54.52000; 10.40667
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