Germany · Schleswig-Holstein · Kiel
Holtenau, Kiel — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Holtenau is a Stadtteil of Kiel at the mouth of the Kiel Canal on the Kieler Förde, known for its great sea locks and for Kiel's airfield.
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Where to stay in Holtenau
How the choice of base plays out on the ground.
Holtenau sits at the Baltic end of the Kiel Canal. The old village is now densely built up. Walkers and cyclists cross the canal to the Wik on the Adler I, a ferry ride of three to five minutes.
By the old lock of the Eider Canal, one of that canal's former warehouses now holds flats and a restaurant. The seamen's mission has been based in Holtenau since 1926.
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The old village
The densely built former village sits at the mouth of the canal, with the Dankeskirche on the rise above the water.Find hotels in The old villagewalkers and cyclists heading south across the canalBy the Wik ferry
The Adler I ferry crosses the Kiel Canal to the Wik in three to five minutes.Find hotels in By the Wik ferryHotel links are affiliate links: booking through them may earn us a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never affects how places are ranked. How this works
About Holtenau
What are the main landmarks in Holtenau?
Holtenau's landmarks are its sea locks, the Holtenau lighthouse and the Tiessenkai. The lighthouse went up in 1895 at the canal entrance, built both to guide ships and as a monument to the German Empire. The Kanal-Packhaus is another striking building.
On a rise above the canal, the Dankeskirche was consecrated in 1897 in thanks for the new canal, and its tower was cut from 52 to 26 metres in 1935 for the airfield.
What is the history of Holtenau?
Holtenau first appears as Holtena in a deed of 1479, a farming village that passed from the Knoop estate to the Seekamp estate in 1575. Lying north of the Levensau, it belonged to Schleswig, while most of Kiel lay in Holstein. Serfdom ended in 1791.
The Kaiser-Wilhelm-Kanal, finished in 1895, remade the village, and in 1913 it became the birthplace of the imperial naval air arm. Holtenau joined Kiel in 1922.
Where is Holtenau?
Holtenau runs from the Kieler Förde in the east to the south bank of the Kiel Canal, with Altenholz to the north-west, Pries to the north-east and the Wik to the south.
Common questions
What is the best area to stay in Holtenau?
The old village: visitors who want the canal locks and the lighthouse on foot. By the Wik ferry: walkers and cyclists heading south across the canal.
More areas in Kiel
Updated October 2026