The main one is the yearly Kieler Woche (Kiel Week),[1] which is perhaps the biggest sailing event in the world.

Prince Heinrich of Prussia, a yachting enthusiast and German Emperor's Wilhelm II's younger brother, was its patron.

In 1914, the German Emperor got the fateful news of the assassination of Austro-Hungarian heir to the throne Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, while he was competing on a regatta organized by the Kaiserlicher Yacht Club.

William II remained as honorary commodore of the Kaiserlicher Yacht Club, even after the Treaty of Versailles that brought the German monarchy to an end and forced him to live in exile in Doorn, the Netherlands.

During Nazi rule the Kaiserlicher Yacht Club was manipulated by the propaganda machine of the state that made wide use of sports in order to harden the German spirit.