Against the normalization of military presence at the Kieler Woche!

Military presence at Kieler Woche

Every year, the sea bay of the northern German city of Kiel hosts over 2000 ships – from traditional sailing ships to yachts. The event is festive: sailing races take place, there are music performances throughout the city, and the event attracts over 3 million visitors annually, with people visiting from Germany and neighbouring countries.

Kiel is also one of the main naval bases of the German Navy, and a leading centre of German high-tech military and civil shipbuilding. So besides the Kieler Woche being an important event for northern German culture, it is also a yearly opportunity for the German military to promote itself.

During the Kieler Woche, the military harbour is open to visit, and on Open Ship Days, thousands of people are received on Germany’s war fleet. There are job fairs organized by the Federal Armed Forces, where young people are presented a heroic image of military marine life. The week before the Kieler Woche, the annual BALTOPS training of the US Naval Forces Europe takes place, with the US naval fleet in Europe ending its expedition in Kiel. In short, the military marine, both German and American, is a very present and well-accepted part of the popular event.

Disrupting the show

In 2025, a group of autonomous activists disturbed the military show, and ripped off the mask of the normalization of military participation in civil events. They made sure the Federal Armed Forces couldn’t do their marketing and recruiting without protest.

During the military show, they spraypainted one of the war ships by approaching it by boat. They put up banners right above the queue for the Open Ship Day, and handed out flyers to every single visitor of the ship.

They reminded people that the military marine and the German Federal Armed Forces are part of war, destruction, trauma, fear, poverty, the loss of homes, children and beloved, and pollution and climate change, and that their presence at civil events is not normal and should not be.

With the support of Het Actiefonds, the happy show the German Federal Armed Forces wanted to present was given a bad taste.

Het Actiefonds is proud to have supported this action and will continue to support and stand in solidarity with activists calling out and disrupting the capitalist war machine and the heroization and normalization of army life!