Editing Kiel Canal (section)

==History==
The first connection between the North and Baltic Seas was constructed while the area was ruled by [[Denmark–Norway]]. It was called the [[Eider Canal]] and used stretches of the [[Eider River]] for the link between the two seas. Completed during the reign of [[Christian VII of Denmark]] in 1784, the {{Lang|de|Eiderkanal}} was a {{convert|43|km|mi|sp=us|abbr=on}} part of a {{convert|175|km|mi|sp=us|abbr=on}} waterway from Kiel to the Eider River's mouth at [[Tönning]] on the west coast. It was only {{convert|29|m|ft|sp=us|abbr=on}} wide with a depth of {{convert|3|m|ft|sp=us|abbr=on}}, which limited the vessels that could use the canal to 300 [[tonnage|tonnes]].<ref name="Bridging Divides" />

After 1864, the [[Second Schleswig War]] put Schleswig-Holstein under the government of [[Prussia]] (from 1871 the [[German Empire]]). A new canal was sought by merchants and by the [[Kaiserliche Marine|German navy]], which wanted to link its bases in the Baltic and the North Sea without the need to sail around [[Denmark]].<ref name="Bridging Divides">{{cite book|last1=Gollasch|first1=Stephan|last2=Galil|first2=Bella S.|last3=Cohen|first3=Andrew N.|title=Bridging Divides: Maritime Canals as Invasion Corridors|date=24 Sep 2006|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-1-4020-5047-3|pages=14–15|url={{Google books|HDUtyShHVnYC|page=14|plainurl=yes}}|ref=Bridging Divides}}</ref>

=== Construction and expansion ===
[[File:Germany 1890 - 1914 HU68382.jpg|thumb|right|The official opening of the canal with the imperial ship ''SMY Hohenzollern''.]]
In June 1887, construction started at [[Holtenau]], near Kiel. The canal took over 9,000 workers eight years to build. On 20 June 1895, [[Kaiser]] [[William II, German Emperor|Wilhelm II]] officially opened the canal for transiting from [[Brunsbüttel]] to Holtenau. The next day a ceremony took place in Holtenau, where Wilhelm II named the waterway the {{Lang|de|Kaiser Wilhelm Kanal}} (after his grandfather, [[Kaiser]] [[William I, German Emperor|Wilhelm I]]), and laid the final stone.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.kiel-canal.de/kiel-canal/history/index.htm|title= Kiel-Canal History|publisher= UCA United Canal Agency GmbH|access-date= 20 June 2011|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150708211152/http://www.kiel-canal.de/kiel-canal/history/index.htm|archive-date= 8 July 2015|url-status= dead}}</ref> British director [[Birt Acres]] filmed the opening of the canal; the [[Science Museum (London)|Science Museum]] in London preserves [[Opening of the Kiel Canal|surviving footage]] of this early film.<ref>{{Cite web| url= http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/724563/index.html |title= Opening of the Kiel Canal| work= Screenonline| access-date= 2007-03-30}}</ref> The first vessel to pass through the canal was the [[aviso]] {{SMS|Jagd}}, sent through in late April (before the canal officially opened) to determine if it was ready for use. In May, the [[ship's tender|tender]] {{SMS|Otter|1877|2}} also passed through the canal.

To cope with the increasing traffic and the demands of the [[Imperial German Navy]], between 1907 and 1914 the canal was widened by Germany to allow [[dreadnought battleship]]s to pass through, allowing them to travel between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea without having to go around Denmark.  Two larger [[canal lock]]s in Brunsbüttel and Holtenau were installed to complete the enlargement.<ref name="kiel-canal.de">{{Cite web |url=http://www.kiel-canal.de/kiel-canal/history/ |title=About Us: History |publisher=Kiel Canal |access-date=2011-06-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160816231716/http://www.kiel-canal.de/kiel-canal/history/ |archive-date=2016-08-16 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[File:Admiralty Chart No 2469 Kaiser Wilhelm Canal, Published 1920.jpg|thumb|left|325px|The canal as shown in a nautical chart published in 1920]]

=== After World War I ===
After [[World War I]], the [[Treaty of Versailles]] required the canal to be open to vessels of commerce and of war of any nation at peace with Germany, while leaving it under German administration.<ref>{{cite wikisource |Treaty of Versailles/Part XII |Treaty of Versailles, Article 380}}</ref> (The United States opposed this proposal to avoid setting a precedent for similar concessions on the [[Panama Canal]].<ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Platzöder |editor-first1=Renate |editor-last2=Verlaan |editor-first2=Philomène |title=The Baltic Sea: New Developments in National Policies and International Cooperation |date=1996 |publisher=Nijhoff |location=The Hague |isbn=9789041103574 }}</ref>) The government under [[Adolf Hitler]] repudiated its international status in 1936, but the canal was reopened to all traffic after [[World War II]].<ref name="kiel-canal.de"/> In 1948, the current name was adopted.

The canal was partially closed for a period in March 2013 after two lock gates failed at the western end near Brunsbüttel. Ships larger than {{convert|125|m|ft|sp=us|abbr=on}} were forced to navigate via [[Skagerrak]], a {{convert|450|km|mi|sp=us|abbr=on}} detour. The failure was blamed on neglect and a lack of funding by the [[Cabinet of Germany|German Federal Government]], which had been in financial dispute with the state of Schleswig-Holstein regarding the canal. [[German Transport Ministry|Germany's Federal Transport Ministry]] promised rapid repairs.<ref>{{cite news |title=Locked Out: Disrepair Forces Closure of Vital Shipping Lane |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/repairs-force-sudden-closure-of-vital-german-kiel-canal-shipping-lane-a-887759.html |access-date=11 March 2013 |newspaper=[[Der Spiegel]] |date=8 March 2013 }}</ref>