June 14- Arrived in Kiel after more than 24 hours of travel door to door. Had a late dinner at the hotel… Keith is very grateful to be here… a dream come true!

June 15 – I wandered the city today as Keith had his first day of meetings (Kiel International Seapower Symposium) at the Institute for Security Policy at Kiel University (ISPK). Keith has lived in Germany on several occasions but had never been to Kiel, with its rich maritime history and naval base. As a German Naval Historian, this was a trip he had been wanting to make for many years.
The photos above are a sampling of the beauty of this city! This is a great city… accessible, walkable, water front on the Kiel Fjord, green space, pedestrian roads in the town center, coffee shops, bakeries… really comfortable and welcoming.

Keith went to Hamburg this evening to a celebration of the 175th anniversary of the German Navy. I found a great Thai restaurant near the hotel to dine alone.

June 16- Keith made his presentation at his German Naval History seminar today and then he had his first bratwurst! Yum….

Preparations are underway all over the waterfront and throughout the city (including next to our hotel) for Kiel Week which begins tomorrow. This is the world’s largest celebration of sailing when Kiel’s normal population of 250,000 swells to 2-3 million people to celebrate Kiel Week.

Keith and the midshipmen…

June 16 – We had an incredible experience this evening at a reception aboard the USS Mount Whitney, the command ship for the US Navy’s Sixth Fleet. They had been on NATO exercises ( BALTOP) for the past several weeks in the Baltic and were in port in Kiel to celebrate their alliances and Kiel Week. Quite a moving experience with speeches about NATO “defending democracies and expanding alliances”. Other ships in the navy yard included those from Italy, Denmark, Poland, France and others. This really brought home the importance of NATO and our alliances. And we talked at some length to terrific midshipmen from Annapolis who had been on the ship during the exercises. The whole evening made us hopeful…

Dr. Dieter Hartwig and Keith in Dr. Hartwig’s living room…

June 17 – We were graciously invited to have tea at Dr. Hartwig’s home. Dr. Hartwig is a renowned German naval historian and the grandson of Admiral Ruge who Keith had interviewed 50 years earlier. A deep and earnest conversation about German Naval History and the important role of truth telling and serious research in the writing of history.

After our tea, Dr. Hartwig gave us an extraordinary tour of the naval section of the North Kiel Cemetery where many naval personnel are buried and naval memorials have been built over many years. Dr. Hartwig wrote a book about the cemetery and its internees and brought alive the stories of the sailors.
The second photo above is Erich Raeder’s overgrown grave…. the admiral of Keith’s 2006 book. As a side note, the cemetery is really beautiful… so much greenery and graves spread out across acres and acres.

Happy birthday, Keith!! ❤️ Had a marvelous birthday dinner at a lovely restaurant this evening. Wonderful food, engaging conversation, old and new friends. We are so grateful to friends and colleagues for making so many special arrangements for our visit.

Goodnight… back with you in a few days.