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Wednesday 19 July 2017

I have been to ... The Kiel Naval Monument

The main part of the Kiel Naval Monument is housed in the base of the brick tower that overlooks the Baltic Sea.


As you approach the entrance to the monument, the bell from the SMS Seydlitz, a battlecruiser that took part in the Battle of Jutland.


The first part of the monument comprises a room with a large dedication on the wall opposite the entrance …


… with the other walls covered in the silhouettes of every German military vessel that was sunk during the First and Second World Wars.





The second room one enters contains wall-mounted streamers and crests belonging to military vessels of many nations.







A magnificent painting of German warships in action during the Battle of Jutland is also displayed in this room …


… above a very large bronze memorial plaque.


The remainder of the monument is below ground, and leads to stairs that give access to the museum. As one ascends these stairs, the first thing one sees is a stained glass window that is dedicated to all those who served in the various German navies.






In the grounds near to the building that houses the main monument there are several other small monuments and exhibits. These include a naval field gun that was used by German Marines during the Boxer Rebellion, …



… a plaque dedicated to the members of the US Navy submarine force that died on active service during World War II, …


… a pair of plaques (one in German and one in English) that commemorates those who died in the famous action between the Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney and the German surface raider KMS Kormoran on 19th November, 1941, …


… a monument to the SS Deutschland, …


… and one of the propellers from the German heavy cruiser Prinz Eugene



… which served in the Kriegsmarine until the end of the Second World War, and which was subsequently expended as one of the targets of the Bikini Atoll atom bomb tests.

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