Kiel

Kiel is the capital and most populous city of the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of around 250,000, making it Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It lies on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Bay of Kiel at the mouth of the Schwentine River, about 90 kilometers northeast of Hamburg. The Kiel Canal, the world's busiest artificial waterway, connects the Baltic to the North Sea and has a terminus in Kiel's Holtenau district.