For the town in Germany, see Habichtswald, Hesse .
46-469: The Habichtswald is a small mountain range, covering some 35 km and rising to a height of 615 m, immediately west of the city of Kassel in northern Hesse in Germany. It is part of a central European volcanic arc. Tuffs from Habichtswald have been used as building-stone material in local churches. The bulk of the range is a nature reserve. The remainder lies within the city limits of Kassel and
92-601: A 250-meter (820 ft) long stone structure shaped like a staircase. The water starts from the Hercules monument and runs down the cascades, Steinhöfer's waterfall, the devil's bridge, finally tumbling down the aqueduct before finally arriving at the lake where a fountain of about 50 meters (160 ft) ends the spectacle. About 350,000 liters (77,000 imp gal; 92,000 U.S. gal) of water are needed. This system relies on natural pressure from reservoirs and underground pipes whose locks are opened manually During
138-400: 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;
184-703: A local subcamp of Dachau concentration camp provided forced labour for the Henschel facilities , which included tank production plants. There 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
230-504: 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
276-535: 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
322-642: 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 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
368-526: 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
414-676: Is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse , in central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and 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
460-557: Is a copper statue depicting the ancient Greek demigod Heracles (Gr. Ηρακλής, German Herkules). The statue is located at the top of a pyramid , which stands on top of the octagon ; the statue and the other parts of the monument were constructed at different times. Today "Hercules" refers to the whole monument, including the Octagon and Pyramid. The monument is the highest point in the Wilhelmshöhe Bergpark. The monument
506-495: 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
SECTION 10
#1732772764359552-850: Is located in Bad Wilhelmshöhe, on the Eastern ridge of the Habichtswald. It was built in an artificial dell of the Karlsberg (526 m (1,726 ft) above sea level) on the western-most and highest location (515 m (1,690 ft)) of the line of sight Schloss Wilhelmshöhe – Hercules. The Hercules monument and the surrounding Wilhelmshöhe Bergpark were inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2013, owing to their outstanding Baroque architecture and intricate water features . The water features were built on 3 June 1714 (310 years ago) ( 1714-06-03 ) . The cascades are
598-426: Is partly settled. The castle and park of Wilhelmshöhe are located within the Habichtswald. 51°18′50″N 9°22′54″E / 51.31389°N 9.38167°E / 51.31389; 9.38167 This Hesse location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Kassel Kassel ( German pronunciation: [ˈkasl̩] ; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926 )
644-772: 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
690-401: The documenta exhibitions of contemporary art . Kassel has a public university with 25,000 students (2018) and a multicultural population (39% of 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
736-434: 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
782-509: 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 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
828-557: The Brothers Grimm lived in Kassel. They collected and wrote most of their fairy tales there. At that time, around 1803, 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
874-862: 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
920-512: 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 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
966-669: 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
SECTION 20
#17327727643591012-447: 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
1058-778: 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,
1104-622: 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
1150-610: 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
1196-587: 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 Hercules monument (Kassel) The Hercules monument is a landmark in the German city of Kassel . It is located in the Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe (Wilhelmshöhe Mountainpark) in northern Hesse , Germany. Hercules
1242-622: The Octagon; 29.60 meters (97.1 ft) for the Pyramid and 8.25 meters (27.1 ft) for the statue. The height difference between top of the statue and the bottom of the cascades is 179 meters (587 ft). Construction of the Bergpark began in 1696. The Hercules statue was built from 1701 to 1717 and is based on the design of the Italian Giovanni Francesco Guerniero. The complex is the northernmost part of
1288-515: 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,
1334-493: 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
1380-402: 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
1426-695: The downtown area, and some 10,000 people were killed and 150,000 were made homeless. Most of 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
Habichtswald - Misplaced Pages Continue
1472-623: 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 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
1518-457: 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
1564-407: 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,
1610-530: The park and is an important baroque aspect of the Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe. 520 steps lead to the top. In late 2005, a restructuring of the entire monument, including the statue was initiated. Initially, the project was to be completed in 2009. The restoration was later estimated to cost more than 24 million Euro and last through 2018. The complete structure (Octagon and Cascades) are made of Tuff sourced from quarries nearby. This soft material has
1656-468: 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
1702-434: The summer (from May until October every Wednesday and Sunday afternoon), visitors can attend this event. Additionally, every first Saturday of the months of June, July, August and September this event takes place during the evening with lights of different colors illuminating the water, the fountain and the monument features. The Hercules monument has a total height of 70.5 meters (231 ft): 32.65 meters (107.1 ft) for
1748-581: 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
1794-535: 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
1840-497: 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
1886-583: 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
Habichtswald - Misplaced Pages Continue
1932-544: 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
1978-529: 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
2024-516: Was its capital and became a centre of Calvinist Protestantism in Germany. Strong fortifications were built to protect 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
2070-469: 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)
2116-695: Was responsible for this humanitarian act, also ordered the construction of 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,
#358641