Kiel vs Heringsdorf

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Kiel (German: [kiːl] (listen)) is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 249,023 (2016). Kiel lies approximately 90 kilometres (56 mi) north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location southeast of the Jutland peninsula on the southwestern shore of the Baltic Sea, Kiel has become one of Germany's major maritime centres, known for a variety of international sailing events, including the annual Kiel Week, which is the biggest sailing event in the world. Kiel is also known for the Kiel Mutiny, when sailors refused to board their vessels in protest against Germany's further participation in World War I, resulting in the abdication of the Kaiser and the formation of the Weimar Republic. The Olympic sailing competitions of the 1936 and the 1972 Summer Olympics were held in the Bay of Kiel.Kiel has also been one of the traditional homes of the German Navy's Baltic fleet, and continues to be a major high-tech shipbuilding centre.

Located in Kiel is the GEOMAR - Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel at the University of Kiel. Kiel is an important sea transport hub, thanks to its location on the Kiel Fjord (Kieler Förde) and the busiest artificial waterway in the world, Kiel Canal (Nord-Ostsee-Kanal). A number of passenger ferries to Sweden, Norway, Lithuania and other countries operate from here. Moreover, today Port of Kiel is a popular desination for cruise ships touring the Baltic Sea. Kiel's recorded history began in the 13th century. Before then, in the eighth century, it was a Danish village. Until 1864 it was administered by Denmark in personal union. In 1866 the city was annexed by Prussia and in 1871 it became part of Germany. Kiel was one of the founding cities of the original European Green Capital Award in 2006. In 2005 Kiel's GDP per capita was €35,618, which is well above Germany's national average, and 159% of the European Union's average.

Source: Wikipedia

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Heringsdorf is a municipality and a popular seaside resort town on Usedom Island in Western Pomerania, Germany. It is also known by the name Kaiserbad (English: Imperial Spa). The municipality was formed in January 2005 out of the former municipalities of Heringsdorf, Ahlbeck and Bansin. Until January 2006, the municipality was called Dreikaiserbäder, literally meaning Three Imperial Spas, a reference to several vacation visits of the German emperor Wilhelm II until 1918.

For the same reason, the fine sandy beach stretching about 12 km (7.5 miles) from Bansin over Heringsdorf to Ahlbeck and Swinemünde (nowadays a Polish spa), is also called Kaiserstrand (Imperial Beach). The continuous Baltic Sea beach of Usedom Island has an overall length of exactly 40 km (25 miles) and an average width of 40 m (130 feet). Tourism is the dominant economical sector of the Imperial Spas, with an increasing number of hotels and vacation homes every year.

Source: Wikipedia