Kiel

Kiel lies at the head of a long inlet of the Baltic, near the mouth of the Schwentine. Count Adolf IV of Holstein founded it in 1233, and his son John granted it the town law of Lübeck in 1242. The harbour gave the settlement access to the Baltic trading world, while its place in Holstein put it close to the Danish frontier.

Kiel joined the Hanseatic League in 1284 but was expelled in 1518 for harbouring pirates. From 1431 its Umschlag fair became a major market for goods and credit in Holstein. The university founded in 1665 gave the town another role as a centre of learning. In 1773 Kiel passed under the Danish king's rule with the rest of the formerly separate ducal share of Holstein.