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110-721: NJT ordered 29 locomotives: the first 24 ALP-46 locomotives in December 1999 and an additional five locomotives in September 2001. They were built by Bombardier (formerly ADtranz) at their Kassel, Germany plant. The first two locomotives were built as preseries locomotives for testing—4600 was tested on the TTCI test plant in Pueblo, Colorado , 4601 was sent to Kearny for testing on the NJT network. All locomotives were transported via road to

220-400: A dynamic economic and social development in the recent years, reducing the unemployment rate by half and attracting many new citizens so that the population has grown constantly. Several international operating companies have factories or headquarters in the city (Volkswagen, Mercedes Benz, SMA, Wintershall, Krauss-Maffei Wegmann, Rheinmetall, Bombardier). The city is home of several hospitals;

330-889: A further nine locomotives, and spare parts, at a cost of $ 72 million. On November 12, 2009, Bombardier ceremonially handed over the first two completed ALP-46As to New Jersey Transit over at their Kassel plant in Germany. They arrived on NJT property on December 13. Locomotive 4629 was shipped by rail to a testing facility in Pueblo, Colorado , while 4630 was placed on the rails at the Meadows Maintenance Complex in Kearny for testing on property and maintenance training. All locomotives were delivered by April 5, 2011, and by of May 7, 2011, all locomotives have entered regular revenue service. In October 2019, as part of New Jersey Transit's 40th Anniversary, locomotive No. 4636

440-511: A more independent status, especially in Bavaria. However, it has no legal significance. All sixteen states are represented at the federal level in the Bundesrat (Federal Council), where their voting power depends on the size of their population. Germany is a federal , parliamentary , representative democratic republic . The German political system operates under a framework laid out in

550-504: A number of low-floor buses complete the Kassel public transport system. The introduction of low-floor buses led to the development of the Kassel kerb which improves the accessibility at bus stops. The city is connected to the national rail network at two stations, Kassel Central , and Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe . The traditional central station (Hauptbahnhof) has been reduced to the status of

660-581: A plan to divide the German Reich into 14 roughly equal-sized states. His proposal was turned down due to opposition of the states and concerns of the government. Article 18 of the constitution enabled a new delimitation of the German territory but set high hurdles: "Three fifth of the votes handed in, and at least the majority of the population are necessary to decide on the alteration of territory". In fact, until 1933 there were only four changes in

770-628: A referendum in the Federal Republic as a whole (paragraph 4) was abolished, which meant territorial revision was no longer possible against the will of the population affected by it. East Germany had originally consisted of five states (i.e., Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia). In 1952, these states were abolished and the East was divided into 14 administrative districts called Bezirke . Soviet -controlled East Berlin – despite officially having

880-535: A regional station since the opening of the Hanover-Würzburg high-speed rail line in 1991 and its station (Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe) on the high-speed line at which the InterCityExpress (ICE) and InterCity services call as well as Nightjet and Flixtrain . Kassel is connected to the motorways A 7 , A 49 and A 44 . The city is served by Kassel Calden Airport . The current mayor of Kassel

990-427: A revision, the federal government had to include the proposal into its legislation. Then a referendum was required in each territory or part of a territory whose affiliation was to be changed (paragraph 3). The proposal should not take effect if within any of the affected territories a majority rejected the change. In this case, the bill had to be introduced again and after passing had to be confirmed by referendum in

1100-532: A top speed of 100 mph (161 km/h). The ALP-46 is derived from the DBAG Class 101 locomotive, of which the operating speed is 200 km/h (124 mph). The locomotives use Bombardier's MITRAC 3000 electric propulsion system. The system consists of a polyol - ester cooled transformer to reduce the catenary voltage which feeds two polyol-ester cooled GTO based traction converters (Bombardier MITRAC TC 3100 AC series). Each traction converter feeds

1210-526: Is Sven Schoeller of Alliance 90/The Greens , who was elected in March 2023. He succeeded Christian Geselle ( SPD ), who had been in office since 2017. The Kassel city council ( Stadtverordnetenversammlung ) governs the city alongside the Mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 14 March 2021, and the results were as follows: The University of Kassel is a public higher education institution and

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1320-495: Is divided into 23 local districts, each of which has a local council with a local mayor as chairman. The local councils are elected every five years by the population of the local districts. The local advisory board can be heard on all important issues affecting the local district. However, the final decision on a measure rests with the Kassel city council. Around Kassel is the administrative district ( Landkreis ) of Landkreis Kassel . The following cities and municipalities border

1430-567: Is increased to 7,500 hp (5,600 kW) and top speed is increased to 125 miles per hour (201 km/h), though NJ Transit limits them to 100. Kassel, Germany Kassel ( German pronunciation: [ˈkasl̩] ; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926 ) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse , in central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and

1540-429: Is referred to as "Land government" (Landesregierung) . Before 1 January 2000, Bavaria had a bicameral parliament, with a popularly elected Landtag , and a Senate made up of representatives of the state's major social and economic groups. The Senate was abolished following a referendum in 1998. The states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg are governed slightly differently from the other states. In each of those cities,

1650-670: Is sometimes propagated by the richer states as a means to avoid or reduce fiscal transfers . In southwestern Germany, territorial revision seemed to be a top priority since the border between the French and American occupation zones was set along the Autobahn Karlsruhe-Stuttgart-Ulm (today the A8 ). Article 118 stated "The division of the territory comprising Baden , Württemberg-Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern into Länder may be revised, without regard to

1760-772: Is the Druselturm; the Brüderkirche and the Martinskirche are also, in part, of medieval origin. The towers of the Martinskirche are from the 1950s. The main Protestant church of Kassel, it was begun in 1364 and finished in 1462. Severely damaged by British bombing in 1943, it was later reconstructed in a more modern style between 1954 and 1958. St. Bonifatius was designed and built in 1956 by Josef Bieling . The complex includes Wilhelmshöhe Palace (with

1870-404: Is very common to use the term Bundesland (federated Land ). Officially this term Bundesland neither appears in the constitution of 1919 nor in the current one. Three Länder call themselves Freistaaten ("free states", an older German term for "republic"): Bavaria (since 1919), Saxony (originally from 1919 and again since 1990), and Thuringia (since 1994). Of the 17 states at the end of

1980-434: The documenta , an international exhibition of modern and contemporary art , has been held regularly in Kassel. The documenta now takes place every five years. As a result of the documenta 6 (1977), Kassel became the first town in the world to be illuminated by laser beams at night (Laserscape, by artist Horst H. Baumann). This laser installation is nowadays still visible at weekends. Artworks from former editions of

2090-665: The Congress of Vienna (1815), 39 states formed the German Confederation . The Confederation was dissolved after the Austro-Prussian War in which Prussia defeated Austria and forced Austria to remove itself from the affairs of the German states. Territorial boundaries were essentially redrawn as a result of military conflicts and interventions from the outside: from the Napoleonic Wars to

2200-682: The Congress of Vienna , the number of territories decreased from about 300 to 39; in 1866 Prussia annexed the sovereign states of Hanover , Nassau , Hesse-Kassel , and the Free City of Frankfurt . Prussia and the other states in Northern and Central Germany united as a federal state , the North German Federation , on 1 July 1867. Four of the five southern German states (Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden and Hesse-Darmstadt) entered military alliances with Prussia but Austria did not. In

2310-772: The Deutsche Mark was introduced as legal tender in the Saarland. Paragraph 6 of Article 29 stated that, if a petition was successful, a referendum should be held within three years. Since the deadline passed on 5 May 1958 without anything happening, the Hesse state government filed a constitutional complaint with the Federal Constitutional Court in October 1958. The complaint was dismissed in July 1961 on

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2420-809: The Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71 Napoléon III was imprisoned in Wilhelmshöhe. In 1918, Wilhelmshöhe became the seat of the German Army High Command (OHL): it was there that the military commanders Hindenburg and Ludendorff prepared the German capitulation. Another large park and also part of the European Garden Heritage Network is the Karlsaue along the Fulda River. Established in

2530-534: The Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, those four states joined the North German Federation which was consequently renamed to German Empire . The parliament and Federal Council decided to give the Prussian king the title of German Emperor (since 1 January 1871). The new German Empire included 25 states (three of them, Hanseatic cities) and the imperial territory of Alsace-Lorraine . Within

2640-669: The Museum Fridericianum was founded in 1779. By the end of the 19th century the museum held one of the largest collections of watches and clocks in the world. Other art museums in Kassel include: Hessen Kassel is the football club in the city, who plays in the Hessenliga after being relegated from the Regionalliga Südwest in the 2017/2018 season. The city's own football stadium, the Auestadion

2750-673: The Oder-Neisse line fell under either Polish or Soviet administration but attempts were made at least symbolically not to abandon sovereignty well into the 1960s. The former provinces of Farther Pomerania , East Prussia , Silesia and Posen-West Prussia fell under Polish administration with the Soviet Union taking the area around Königsberg (now Kaliningrad), pending a final peace conference with Germany which eventually never took place. More than 8 million Germans had been expelled from these territories that had formed part of

2860-807: The Oktogon ( Hercules monument ) and of the Orangerie . In the late 18th Century, Hesse-Kassel became infamous for selling mercenaries ( Hessians ) to the British crown to help suppress the American Revolution and to finance the construction of palaces and the Landgrave's opulent lifestyle. In the early 19th century, the Brothers Grimm lived in Kassel. They collected and wrote most of their fairy tales there. At that time, around 1803,

2970-471: The Protestant stronghold against Catholic enemies. Secret societies, such as Rosicrucianism flourished, with Christian Rosenkreutz's work Fama Fraternitatis first published in 1617. In 1685, Kassel became a refuge for 1,700 Huguenots who found shelter in the newly established borough of Oberneustadt. Landgrave Charles , who was responsible for this humanitarian act, also ordered the construction of

3080-680: The Regierender Bürgermeister (governing mayor) in Berlin. The parliament for Berlin is called the Abgeordnetenhaus (House of Representatives), while Bremen and Hamburg both have a Bürgerschaft . The parliaments in the remaining 13 states are referred to as Landtag (State Parliament). The city-states of Berlin and Hamburg are subdivided into Districts . The City of Bremen consists of two urban districts : Bremen and Bremerhaven , which are not contiguous. In

3190-537: The Saarland  – which later received a special status – in the French zone; Mecklenburg(-Vorpommern) , Brandenburg , Saxony , Saxony-Anhalt , and Thuringia in the Soviet zone . No single state comprised more than 30% of either population or territory; this was intended to prevent any one state from being as dominant within Germany as Prussia had been in the past. Initially, only seven of

3300-567: The Weimar Republic , six still exist (though partly with different borders): The other 11 states of the Weimar Republic either merged into one another or were separated into smaller entities: Some territories bordering other states were annexed to the bordering state. Also, Prussia had exclaves that were surrounded by other states. These became part of their surrounding states. All states, except Bavaria , now have territory of

3410-603: The West German constitution thus applied to the entire German people . Article 23, which had allowed "any other parts of Germany" to join, was rephrased. It had been used in 1957 to reintegrate the Saar Protectorate as the Saarland into the Federal Republic, and this was used as a model for German reunification in 1990. The amended article now defines the participation of the Federal Council and

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3520-447: The documenta (mainly sculptures) can be found in many places in Kassel; among those are the " 7000 Oaks ", a work of land art by the German artist Joseph Beuys . The latest/current edition of the documenta , known as " documenta 15 ", runs from 18 June until 25 September 2022. Kassel experiences an oceanic climate ( Köppen : Cfb ) but not so far from marine climates, with a more notable continental influence than Berlin . Using

3630-556: The 16 German states in matters concerning the European Union . Article 29 was again modified and provided an option for the states to "revise the division of their existing territory or parts of their territory by agreement without regard to the provisions of paragraphs (2) through (7)". Article 118a was introduced into the Basic Law and provided the possibility for Berlin and Brandenburg to merge "without regard to

3740-778: The 16th century, it is famous for the Orangerie , a palace built in 1710 as a summer residence for the landgraves. Today, the Orangerie contains the Museum of Astronomy and Technology, with a scale model of the Solar System spanning the entire park and beyond. In addition, the Park Schönfeld contains a small, municipal botanical garden , the Botanischer Garten Kassel . Europe's first public museum,

3850-540: The 1949 constitutional document known as the Grundgesetz (Basic Law). By calling the document the Grundgesetz , rather than Verfassung (constitution), the authors expressed the intention that it would be replaced by a true constitution once Germany was reunited as one state. Amendments to the Grundgesetz generally require a two-thirds majority of both chambers of the parliament; the fundamental principles of

3960-622: The 1961–1990 normal and 0 °C isotherm, the city already had a humid continental climate ( Dfb ). Kassel has a population of about 200,000 and is the 3rd largest city in Hesse state and the only large city in the North Hesse region. Kassel is often called the city that located on the center of Germany, due to its position; however, the real center of Germany is not far away. Kassel first reached its first population peak of over 100,000 in 1899 and its second in 1943 with about 225,000. Kassel

4070-570: The American states and regional governments in other federations without serious calls for territorial changes" in those other countries. Arthur B. Gunlicks summarizes the main arguments for boundary reform in Germany: "the German system of dual federalism requires strong Länder that have the administrative and fiscal capacity to implement legislation and pay for it from own source revenues. Too many Länder also make coordination among them and with

4180-666: The Antiquities Collection and Old Masters), the Hercules monument, and the Lions Castle. Wilhelmshöhe Palace above the city was built in 1786, by landgrave Wilhelm IX of Hesse-Kassel. The palace is now a museum and houses an important collection of Graeco-Roman antiques and a fine gallery of paintings comprising the second largest collection of Rembrandts in Germany. It is surrounded by the beautiful Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe with many appealing sights. The complex

4290-480: The Basic Law as a binding order. An expert commission was established, named after its chairman, the former Secretary of State Professor Werner Ernst. After two years of work, the experts delivered their report in 1973. It provided an alternative proposal for the two regions: the north and center-southwest. In the north, either a single new state consisting of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Bremen and Lower Saxony should be created (solution A) or two new states, one in

4400-482: The Chatti, a German tribe that had lived in the area since Roman times. Another assumption is a portmanteau from Frankonian cas , meaning "valley or recess", and sali meaning "hall or service building", which can be interpreted as "(town) hall in a valley". A deed from 1189 certifies that Cassel had city rights, but the date when they were granted is not known. The first castle in Kassel was constructed in 1277, which

4510-608: The Federal Minister of the Interior by reference to the referendum of 1951. However, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany ruled that the rejection was unlawful: the population of Baden had the right to a new referendum because the one of 1951 had taken place under different rules from the ones provided for by article 29. In particular, the outcome of the 1951 referendum did not reflect

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4620-399: The Federal Republic as a whole (paragraph 4). The reorganization should be completed within three years after the Basic Law had come into force (paragraph 6). Article 29 states that "the division of the federal territory into Länder may be revised to ensure that each Land be of a size and capacity to perform its functions effectively". In their letter to Konrad Adenauer ,

4730-625: The Federal Republic of Germany in 1949. This was in contrast to the post-war development in Austria , where the national Bund ("federation") was constituted first, and then the individual states were carved out as units of that federal nation. The German use of the term Länder ("lands") dates back to the Weimar Constitution of 1919. Previously, the states of the German Empire had been called Staaten ("states"). Today, it

4840-549: The Federal Territory must be revised (paragraph 1). Moreover, in territories or parts of territories whose affiliation with a Land had changed after 8 May 1945 without a referendum, people were allowed to petition for a revision of the current status within a year after the promulgation of the Basic Law (paragraph 2). If at least one tenth of those entitled to vote in Bundestag elections were in favour of

4950-399: The French-occupied Saar Protectorate was returned and formed into the Saarland , the Federal Republic consisted of ten states, which are referred to as the " Old States " today. West Berlin was under the sovereignty of the Western Allies and neither a Western German state nor part of one. However, it was in many ways integrated with West Germany under a special status. A new delimitation of

5060-470: The German-speaking lands for centuries and which mostly did not have sizable Polish minorities before 1945. However, no attempts were made to establish new states in these territories, as they lay outside the jurisdiction of West Germany at that time. In 1948, the military governors of the three Western Allies handed over the so-called Frankfurt Documents to the minister-presidents in the Western occupation zones. Among other things, they recommended revising

5170-501: The Karlsaue park in the Southern city district. Several courts are located in Kassel, including: Kassel is twinned with: [REDACTED] Media related to Kassel at Wikimedia Commons [REDACTED] Kassel travel guide from Wikivoyage States of Germany The Federal Republic of Germany , as a federal state , consists of sixteen states . Berlin , Hamburg and Bremen (with its seaport exclave , Bremerhaven ) are called Stadtstaaten (" city-states "), while

5280-492: The Landgraviate was elevated to a Principality and its ruler to Prince-elector . Shortly after, it was annexed by Napoleon and in 1807 it became the capital of the short-lived Kingdom of Westphalia under Napoleon's brother Jérôme . The Electorate was restored in 1813. Having sided with Austria in the Austro-Prussian War to gain supremacy in Germany, the principality was annexed by Prussia in 1866. The Prussian administration united Nassau , Frankfurt and Hesse-Kassel into

5390-443: The Nazi regime via the Gleichschaltung process, as the states administratively were largely superseded by the Nazi Gau system . Three changes are of particular note: on 1 January 1934, Mecklenburg-Schwerin was united with neighbouring Mecklenburg-Strelitz ; and, by the Greater Hamburg Act ( Groß-Hamburg-Gesetz ) of 1937, the territory of the city-state was extended, while Lübeck lost its independence and became part of

5500-480: The Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein . During the Allied occupation of Germany after World War II , internal borders were redrawn by the Allied military governments. New states were established in all four zones of occupation: Bremen , Hesse , Württemberg-Baden , and Bavaria in the American zone ; Hamburg , Schleswig-Holstein , Lower Saxony , and North Rhine-Westphalia in the British zone ; Rhineland-Palatinate , Baden , Württemberg-Hohenzollern and

5610-401: The Saarland (solution C), the district of Germersheim would then become part of Baden-Württemberg. The other alternative was that the Palatinate (including the region of Worms ) could be merged with the Saarland and Baden-Württemberg, and the rest of Rhineland-Palatinate would then merge with Hesse (solution D). Both alternatives could be combined (AC, BC, AD, BD). At the same time,

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5720-414: The Western Allies, viewed itself as part of the Federal Republic and was largely integrated and considered a de facto state. In 1952, following a referendum , Baden, Württemberg-Baden, and Württemberg-Hohenzollern merged into Baden-Württemberg . In 1957, the Saar Protectorate joined the Federal Republic as the state of Saarland . The next change occurred with German reunification in 1990, in which

5830-402: The affected states, the proposals were shelved. Public interest was limited or nonexistent. The referendum in Baden was held on 7 June 1970. 81.9% of voters decided for Baden to remain part of Baden-Württemberg, only 18.1% opted for the reconstitution of the old state of Baden . The referendums in Lower Saxony and Rhineland-Palatinate were held on 19 January 1975 (the percentages given are

5940-449: The ancient buildings in the city centre were not restored, and large parts of the inner city area were completely rebuilt in the style of the 1950s. A few historic buildings, however, such as the Museum Fridericianum (see below), were restored. In 1949, the interim parliament (" Parlamentarischer Rat ") eliminated Kassel in the first round as a city to become the provisional capital of the Federal Republic of Germany ( Bonn won). In 1964,

6050-407: The boundaries of the West German states in a way that none of them should be too large or too small in comparison with the others. As the premiers did not come to an agreement on this question, the Parliamentary Council was supposed to address this issue. Its provisions are reflected in Article 29 of the Basic Law . There was a binding provision for a new delimitation of the federal territory:

6160-600: The casualties were civilians or wounded soldiers recuperating in local hospitals, whereas factories survived the attack generally undamaged. Karl Gerland replaced the regional Gauleiter , Karl Weinrich , soon after the raid. The Allied ground advance into Germany reached Kassel at the beginning of April 1945. The US 80th Infantry Division captured Kassel in bitter house-to-house fighting during 1–4 April 1945, which included numerous German panzer-grenadier counterattacks, and resulted in further widespread devastation to bombed and unbombed structures alike. Post-war , most of

6270-434: The championship playoffs, losing to Adler Mannheim , and reached the semi-finals on three more occasions. The Huskies ran into financial difficulties and dissolved in 2010. The "Young Huskies", which is a junior and youth hockey club, decided to enter a men's team in the Hessenliga. This is the fifth division and the lowest men's competition in the state of Hesse . The new club was expecting no more than 3,000 supporters for

6380-402: The citizens in 2017 had a migration background). Kassel was first mentioned in 913 AD, as the place where two deeds were signed by King Conrad I . The place was called Chasella or Chassalla and was a fortification at a bridge crossing the Fulda river . There are several yet unproven assumptions about the name's origin. It could be derived from the ancient Castellum Cattorum , a castle of

6490-402: The city of Kassel (starting clockwise in the north): Ahnatal , Vellmar , Fuldatal , Staufenberg , Niestetal , Kaufungen , Lohfelden , Fuldabrück , Baunatal , Schauenburg , Habichtswald . Of these, Vellmar and Fuldatal in the north, Kaufungen in the east, Lohfelden in the southeast and Baunatal in the south are growing ever closer to the urban area. In 1558 the first German observatory

6600-410: The city. During World War I the German military headquarters were located in the Wilhelmshöhe Palace. In the late 1930s, Nazis destroyed Heinrich Hübsch 's Kassel Synagogue . During World War II Kassel was the headquarters for Germany's Wehrkreis IX, and a local subcamp of Dachau concentration camp provided forced labour for the Henschel facilities , which included tank production plants. There

6710-454: The commission developed criteria for classifying the terms of Article 29 Paragraph 1. The capacity to perform functions effectively was considered most important, whereas regional, historical, and cultural ties were considered as hardly verifiable. To fulfill administrative duties adequately, a population of at least five million per state was considered as necessary. After a relatively brief discussion and mostly negative responses from

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6820-468: The configuration of the German states: the 7  Thuringian states were merged in 1920, whereby Coburg opted for Bavaria , Pyrmont joined Prussia in 1922, and Waldeck did so in 1929. Any later plans to break up the dominating Prussia into smaller states failed because political circumstances were not favourable to state reforms. After the Nazi Party seized power in January 1933, the Länder were gradually abolished and reduced to provinces under

6930-419: The consent of the federal government (Article 32 of the Basic Law). Typical treaties relate to cultural relationships and economic affairs. Some states call themselves a " free state " ( Freistaat ). It is merely a historic synonym for "republic" and was a description used by most German states after the abolishment of monarchy after World War I . Today, Freistaat is associated emotionally with

7040-401: The constituent states have certain limited powers in this area: in matters that affect them directly, the states defend their interests at the federal level through the Bundesrat ("Federal Council"), and in areas where they have the legislative authority they have limited powers to conclude international treaties "with the consent of the federal government". It was the states that formed

7150-416: The constitution, as expressed in the articles guaranteeing human dignity, the separation of powers, the federal structure, and the rule of law are valid in perpetuity. Despite the original intention, the Grundgesetz remained in effect after the German reunification in 1990, with only minor amendments. The federal constitution stipulates that the structure of each Federated State's government must "conform to

7260-432: The constitution. An appeal against the decision was rejected as inadmissible by the Federal Constitutional Court. On 24 August 1976, the binding provision for a new delimitation of the federal territory was altered into a mere discretionary one. Paragraph 1 of Article 29 was rephrased, with the provision that any state had to be "of a size and capacity to perform its functions effectively" put first. The option for

7370-426: The district of the same name , and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020. The former capital of the state of Hesse-Kassel , it has many palaces and parks, including the Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe , which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site . Kassel is also known for the documenta exhibitions of contemporary art . Kassel has a public university with 25,000 students (2018) and a multicultural population (39% of

7480-416: The empire, 65% of the territory and 62% of the population belonged to the state of Prussia. After the territorial losses of the Treaty of Versailles , the remaining states continued as republics of a new German federation. The debate on a new delimitation of the German territory started in 1919 as part of discussions about the new constitution. Hugo Preuss , the father of the Weimar Constitution , drafted

7590-404: The executive branch consists of a Senate of approximately eight, selected by the state's parliament; the senators carry out duties equivalent to those of the ministers in the larger states. The equivalent of the minister-president is the Senatspräsident (president of the senate), also commonly referred to as Bürgermeister (Mayor) in Bremen, the Erster Bürgermeister (first mayor) in Hamburg, and

7700-402: The famous water features take place. They start at the Oktagon and during a one-hour walk through the park visitors can follow the water's way until they reach the lake of the Wilhelmshöhe Palace, where a fountain of about 50 metres (160 ft) marks the end of the spectacle. The Löwenburg ("Lions Castle") is a replica of a medieval castle, also built during the reign of Wilhelm IX. After

7810-402: The federal system: the legislatures are popularly elected for four or five years (depending on the state), and the minister-president is then chosen by a majority vote among the Landtag ' s members. The minister-president is typically the head of the biggest party of a coalition. The minister-president appoints a cabinet to run the state's agencies and to carry out the executive duties of

7920-487: The federal territory has been discussed since the Federal Republic was founded in 1949 and even before. Committees and expert commissions advocated a reduction of the number of states; academics ( Werner Rutz , Meinhard Miegel , Adrian Ottnad , etc.) and politicians ( Walter Döring , Hans Apel , and others) made proposals – some of them far-reaching – for redrawing boundaries but hardly anything came of these public discussions. Territorial reform

8030-412: The federation more complicated." But several proposals have failed so far; territorial reform remains a controversial topic in German politics and public perception. Federalism has a long tradition in German history. The Holy Roman Empire comprised many petty states , numbering more than 300 in around 1796. The number of territories was greatly reduced during the Napoleonic Wars (1796–1814). After

8140-412: The federation. The states retain residual or exclusive legislative authority for all other areas, including culture, which in Germany includes not only topics such as the financial promotion of arts and sciences, but also most forms of education and job training (see Education in Germany ). Though international relations including international treaties are primarily the responsibility of the federal level,

8250-466: The first home game in the Hessenliga. However, they had over 5,000 supporters come to watch. Kassel has seven tram lines (1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8), with trams arriving usually every 15 minutes. The city also operates a light rail Stadtbahn network called RegioTram using Regio Citadis low-floor trams which run on both tram and main line railway tracks with three lines (RT1, RT4, RT5). Moreover,

8360-446: The five " New States " on 3 October 1990. The former district of East Berlin joined West Berlin to form the new state of Berlin. Henceforth, the 10 "old states" plus 5 "new states" plus the new state Berlin add up to current 16 states of Germany. After reunification, the constitution was amended to state that the citizens of the 16 states had successfully achieved the unity of Germany in free self-determination and that

8470-409: The former Free State of Prussia. Other former Prussian territories lying east of the rivers Neisse and Oder were lost in 1945 and are now part of Poland or Russia . They are Silesia (Upper and Lower), Pomerania, West Prussia-Posen, and East Prussia respectively. Possible boundary changes between states continue to be debated in Germany, in contrast to how there are "significant differences among

8580-586: The grounds that Article 29 had made the new delimitation of the federal territory an exclusively federal matter. At the same time, the Court reaffirmed the requirement for a territorial revision as a binding order to the relevant constitutional bodies. The grand coalition decided to settle the 1956 petitions by setting binding deadlines for the required referendums. The referendums in Lower Saxony and Rhineland-Palatinate were to be held by 31 March 1975, and

8690-400: The motors (Bombardier MITRAC DR 3700F series) of one truck . The ALP-46A locomotives use Bombardier's MITRAC 3000 electric propulsion system. The traction converters (Bombardier MITRAC TC 3360 AC series) are from a newer generation based on IGBT technology. The converters are water cooled and have individual inverters for each traction motor (Bombardier MITRAC DR 3700F series). Power at rail

8800-511: The necessary majority vote in Brandenburg, while a majority of Berliners voted in favour. Federalism is one of the entrenched constitutional principles of Germany . According to the German constitution , some topics, such as foreign affairs and defence, are the exclusive responsibility of the federation (i.e., the federal level), while others fall under the shared authority of the states and

8910-546: The new Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau . Kassel ceased to be a princely residence but soon developed into a major industrial centre, as well as a major railway junction. Henschel & Son , the largest railway locomotive manufacturer in Germany at the end of the nineteenth century, was based in Kassel. In 1870, after the Battle of Sedan , Napoleon III was sent as a prisoner to the Wilhelmshöhe Palace above

9020-547: The northeast consisting of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg and the northern part of Lower Saxony (from Cuxhaven to Lüchow-Dannenberg ) and one in the northwest consisting of Bremen and the rest of Lower Saxony (solution B). In the center and southwest, one alternative was that Rhineland-Palatinate (with the exception of the Germersheim district but including the Rhine-Neckar region) should be merged with Hesse and

9130-426: The other thirteen states are called Flächenländer ("area states") and include Bavaria , Saxony , and Thuringia , which describe themselves as Freistaaten ("free states"). The Federal Republic of Germany ("West Germany") was created in 1949 through the unification of the three western zones previously under American, British, and French administration in the aftermath of World War II . Initially,

9240-421: The percentages of those eligible who voted in favour): The votes in Lower Saxony were successful as both proposals were supported by more than 25% of eligible voters. The Bundestag, however, decided that both Oldenburg and Schaumburg-Lippe should remain part of Lower Saxony. The justification was that a reconstitution of the two former states would contradict the objectives of paragraph 1 of article 29 of

9350-433: The port of Bremen and shipped on Roro-ships of Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics to Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal, New Jersey . In February 2008, NJT ordered twenty-seven 125 mph (201 km/h) top speed ALP-46A locomotives from Bombardier, which were to haul Bombardier MultiLevel Coaches . The estimated value of the order was €155 million (approximately $ 230 million). In June 2009, NJT took up an option for

9460-407: The pre-War states remained: Baden (in part), Bavaria (reduced in size), Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse (enlarged), Saxony, and Thuringia. The states with hyphenated names, such as Rhineland-Palatinate, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Saxony-Anhalt, owed their existence to the occupation powers and were created out of mergers of former Prussian provinces and smaller states. Former German territory that lay east of

9570-478: The principles of republican, democratic, and social government, based on the rule of law" (Article 28). Most of the states are governed by a cabinet led by a Ministerpräsident (minister-president), together with a unicameral legislative body known as the Landtag (State Diet ). The states are parliamentary republics and the relationship between their legislative and executive branches mirrors that of

9680-470: The provisions of Article 29, by agreement between the Länder concerned. If no agreement is reached, the revision shall be effected by a federal law, which shall provide for an advisory referendum." Since no agreement was reached, a referendum was held on 9 December 1951 in four different voting districts, three of which approved the merger ( South Baden refused but was overruled, as the result of total votes

9790-467: The provisions of Article 29, by agreement between the two Länder with the participation of their inhabitants who are entitled to vote". A state treaty between Berlin and Brandenburg was approved in both parliaments with the necessary two-thirds majority, but in a popular referendum of 5 May 1996, about 63% voted against the merger. The German states can conclude treaties with foreign countries in matters within their own sphere of competence and with

9900-468: The public Klinikum Kassel is one of the largest hospitals in the federal state, offering a wide range of health services. Kassel is the largest city in the north of the federated state of Hesse in the south-western part of Germany, about 70 kilometers northwest of the geographic center of Germany. It is located on both sides of the river Fulda. Kassel's deepest point is in the north-eastern Fulda valley at 132.9 m above sea level. The urban area of Kassel

10010-639: The public support of Federal German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer for the plan. The rejection of the plan by the Saarlanders was interpreted as support for the Saar to join the Federal Republic of Germany. On 27 October 1956, the Saar Treaty established that Saarland should be allowed to join Germany, as provided by the German constitution. Saarland became part of Germany effective 1 January 1957. The Franco-Saarlander currency union ended on 6 July 1959, when

10120-535: The referendum in Baden was to be held by 30 June 1970. The threshold for a successful vote was set at one-quarter of those entitled to vote in Bundestag elections. Paragraph 4 stated that the vote should be disregarded if it contradicted the objectives of paragraph 1. In his investiture address, given on 28 October 1969 in Bonn, Chancellor Willy Brandt proposed that the government would consider Article 29 of

10230-550: The same status as West Berlin – was declared East Germany's capital and its 15th district. The debate on territorial revision restarted shortly before German reunification . While academics (Rutz and others) and politicians (Gobrecht) suggested introducing only two, three, or four states in East Germany, legislation reconstituted the East German states in an arrangement similar to that which they had had before 1952, as

10340-462: The state's government. Like in other parliamentary systems, the legislature can dismiss or replace the minister-president after a successful no-confidence vote . The governments in Berlin , Bremen and Hamburg are referred to as " senates ". In the free states of Bavaria and Saxony , the government is referred to as "state government" (Staatsregierung) ; and in the other states, the government

10450-488: The states of the Federal Republic were Baden (until 1952), Bavaria (in German: Bayern ), Bremen , Hamburg , Hesse ( Hessen ), Lower Saxony ( Niedersachsen ), North Rhine-Westphalia ( Nordrhein-Westfalen ), Rhineland-Palatinate ( Rheinland-Pfalz ), Schleswig-Holstein , Württemberg-Baden (until 1952), and Württemberg-Hohenzollern (until 1952). West Berlin , while still under occupation by

10560-481: The territory of the former German Democratic Republic ( East Germany ) became part of the Federal Republic, by accession of the re-established eastern states of Brandenburg , Mecklenburg-West Pomerania ( Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ), Saxony ( Sachsen ), Saxony-Anhalt ( Sachsen-Anhalt ), and Thuringia ( Thüringen ), and the reunification of West and East Berlin into a city state. A referendum in 1996 to merge Berlin with surrounding Brandenburg failed to reach

10670-484: The three western military governors approved the Basic Law but suspended Article 29 until such time as a peace treaty should be concluded. Only the special arrangement for the southwest under Article 118 could enter into force. Upon its founding in 1949, West Germany thus had eleven states. These were reduced to nine in 1952 when three south-western states ( South Baden , Württemberg-Hohenzollern , and Württemberg-Baden ) merged to form Baden-Württemberg . From 1957, when

10780-652: The town hosted the fourth Hessentag state festival (again in 2013). In 1972 the Chancellor of West Germany Willy Brandt and the prime minister of the German Democratic Republic Willy Stoph met in Wilhelmshöhe Palace for negotiations between the two German states. In 1991, the central rail station moved from "Hauptbahnhof" ( main station ) (today only used for regional trains) to "Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe". The city had

10890-535: The university in 2017. The university offers a wide range of study programs from organic agriculture to social work. Furthermore, it offers several English master's programs as well as two short-term international programs, the Summer University and the Winter University . The Kunsthochschule Kassel (University of Fine Arts) is also part of the university with a satellite campus directly at

11000-423: The wishes of the majority of Baden's population. The two Palatine petitions (for a reintegration into Bavaria and integration into Baden-Württemberg) failed with 7.6% and 9.3%. Further requests for petitions (Lübeck, Geesthacht, Lindau, Achberg, and 62 Hessian communities) had already been rejected as inadmissible by the Federal Minister of the Interior or were withdrawn as in the case of Lindau. The rejection

11110-594: Was also a camp for Sinti and Romani people (see Romani Holocaust ). Allied prisoners of war from the Stalag IX-A POW camp were deployed to forced labour in the local arms industry in violation of the Geneva Conventions . The most severe bombing of Kassel in World War II destroyed 90% of the downtown area, and some 10,000 people were killed and 150,000 were made homeless. Most of

11220-553: Was built in 1953 and is able to hold 18,737 people. It is located in the south of Kassel at the quarter Südstadt, next to the Karlsaue. Kassel has a long ice hockey tradition, but it was not until 1977 that the Kassel ice rink (Eissporthalle) opened on a private initiative. The Kassel Huskies were founding members of the DEL in 1994, belonging to the league from 1994 to 2006 and again from 2008 to 2010. In 1997 , they were runners-up in

11330-583: Was built in Kassel, and a later version from 1714 survives as the Bellevue Palace . The Ottoneum , the first permanent German theatre building, was built in 1604. The old building is today the Natural History Museum, and the now-called Staatstheater Kassel is located in a nearby building that was constructed in the 1950s. Since 1927 Kassel has been home to Bärenreiter , one of the world's most important music publishers. Since 1955

11440-609: Was confirmed by the Federal Constitutional Court in the case of Lübeck. In the Paris Agreements of 23 October 1954, France offered to establish an independent "Saarland", under the auspices of the Western European Union (WEU), but on 23 October 1955 in the Saar Statute referendum the Saar electorate rejected this plan by 67.7% to 32.3% (out of a 96.5% turnout: 423,434 against, 201,975 for) despite

11550-411: Was decisive). On 25 April 1952, the three former states merged to form Baden-Württemberg. With the Paris Agreements in 1954, West Germany regained (limited) sovereignty. This triggered the start of the one-year period as set in paragraph 2 of Article 29. As a consequence, eight petitions for referendums were launched, six of which were successful: The last petition was originally rejected by

11660-544: Was destroyed during World War II and became an industrial city in 1950s. Today, Kassel is home to a few companies and universities. The bombing raids of 1943 destroyed 90% of the city center. The city center was almost completely rebuilt during the 1950s and is a combination of renovated or reconstructed old buildings and architecture of the 1950s. Outside the city center, the suburbs are dominated by 19th-century architecture. Timber-framed old towns are situated in suburbs like Harleshausen and Bad Wilhelmshöhe. The oldest monument

11770-473: Was founded in 1971 as a so-called reform university offering new and innovative models of teaching. It is the newest university in the state of Hessen and has an urban and lively inner-city campus between the city center and the Northern city district, a typical working-class area with a multicultural population. There were 25,000 students enrolled at the university in 2018, 3381 of them non-Germans. Two hundred and twenty-four students obtained their doctorate from

11880-584: Was later replaced by a Renaissance castle, the Kassel City Palace , which burned down in 1811. In 1567 the Landgraviate of Hesse , until then centered in Marburg , was divided among four sons, with Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel) becoming one of its successor states. Kassel was its capital and became a centre of Calvinist Protestantism in Germany. Strong fortifications were built to protect

11990-469: Was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2013. The Hercules monument is a huge octagonal stone structure carrying a giant replica of Hercules "Farnese" (now at Museo Archeologico Nazionale in Naples, Italy). From its base down to Wilhelmshöhe Palace runs a long set of artificial cascades which delight visitors during the summer months. Every Sunday and Wednesday afternoon at 14:30 (from May until October)

12100-598: Was wrapped into a Pennsylvania Railroad scheme. In September 2023, locomotive 4640 was wrapped in a heritage disco stripe scheme, in preparation for the 40th Anniversary of NJ Transit Rail Operations. Both the ALP-46 and ALP-46A have been used to haul NJ Transit's Comet IIM, IV, V, and Multilevel fleet. The ALP-46 was also used to pull Amfleet consists on Amtrak 's Clocker service in its final days of operation. The ALP-46 locomotives produce 7,100 hp (5,300 kW) and are powered by overhead catenary. They can reach

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