The Kiel Canal (German: Nord-Ostsee-Kanal, literally "North-[to]-Baltic Sea canal"), known as the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Kanal until 1948, is a 98-kilometre (61 mi) long freshwater canal in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. The canal links the North Sea at Brunsbüttel to the Baltic Sea at Kiel-Holtenau. An average of 250 nautical miles (460 km) is saved by using the Kiel Canal instead of going around the Jutland Peninsula. This not only saves time but also avoids potentially dangerous storm-prone seas.