Discover 20 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Kassel (Germany). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe, Hercules monument, and Ottoneum. Also, be sure to include Orangerie in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Kassel (Hesse).
Table of Contents
Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe
Palatial, fine art and antiquities museum. Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe is a landscape park in Kassel, Germany. The area of the park is 2.4 square kilometres, making it the largest European hillside park, and second largest park on a hill slope in the world. Construction of the Bergpark, or "mountain park", began in 1689 at the behest of the Landgraves of Hesse-Kassel and took about 150 years. The park is open to the public today. Since 2013, it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[1]
Hercules monument
Also known as: Herkules
Complex devoted to ancient Greek demigod. The Hercules monument is an important landmark in the German city of Kassel. It is located in the Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe in northern Hesse, Germany.
Hercules 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 not only to the statue, but the whole monument, including the Octagon and Pyramid. The monument is the highest point in the Wilhelmshöhe Bergpark.
The monument is located in Bad Wilhelmshöhe, on the Eastern ridge of the Habichtswald. It was built in an artificial dell of the Karlsberg (526m above sea level) on the most western and at the same time highest location (515 m) of the line of sight Schloss Wilhelmshöhe – Hercules.
On 23 June 2013 the Mountainpark and the Hercules were proclaimed as World Heritage Site during the UNESCO meeting in Phnom Penh.[2]
Address: Schlosspark 28, 34131 Kassel (Kassel West)
Ottoneum
Museum. The Ottoneum in Kassel, Germany was the first theater building built in Germany and is now a museum of natural history.[3]
Address: Steinweg 2, 34117 Kassel (Kassel Ost)
Orangerie
Orangery in Kassel, Germany. The Orangerie is an Orangery in Kassel, Hesse, Germany. It was built under Landgrave Charles between 1703 and 1711. Since then, it forms the northern corner of the Karlsaue park. Today it is used as an astronomy and physical cabinet.[4]
Address: Auedamm 20B, 34121 Kassel (Kassel Ost)
Bellevue Palace
Also known as: Palais Bellevue
Museum in Kassel, Germany. Bellevue Palace in Kassel was built in 1714 for Charles I, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel. Originally the building served as an Observatory. It became a residence, and then part of Bellevue Castle, which was later destroyed. Until its closure for structural reasons in 2009, the building housed a museum devoted to the Grimm Brothers, which has now moved to the Grimmwelt Kassel.[5]
Address: Schöne Aussicht 2, 34117 Kassel (Kassel Ost)
Museum Schloss Wilhelmshöhe
Also known as: Schloss Wilhelmshöhe
Housing. Schloss Wilhelmshöhe is a Neoclassical palace located in Bad Wilhelmshöhe, a part of Kassel, Germany. It was built for Landgrave Wilhelm IX of Hesse in the late 18th century. Emperor Wilhelm II made extensive use of it as a summer residence and personal retreat.
Today, the palace houses the art gallery Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, part of Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel. Since 2013, Schloss Wilhelmshöhe has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe.[6]
Address: Schlosspark Wilhelmshoehe 3, 34131 Kassel (Kassel West)
Karlsaue
18th-century park with lakes and canals. The Karlsaue Park is a public and inner-city park of 1.50 km2 in Kassel. It was redesigned as a landscape garden in 1785 and consists of a mixture of visible Baroque garden elements and arranged “natural areas”.[7]
New Gallery
Also known as: Neue Galerie
Museum in Kassel, Germany. The Neue Galerie is an art museum in Kassel in the state of Hesse, in Germany. The building was constructed between 1871 and 1877 as a museum for works of the Old Masters. The building was damaged and burned out on 22 October 1943 in a devastating air raid carried out on the orders of Winston Churchill. The 60 most important works were brought to Vienna, and were returned in 1956. The building and large parts of the collection were lost. The museum was reopened with its present name in 1976, and a large renovation was completed in 2011.[8]
Address: Schoene Aussicht 1, 34117 Kassel (Kassel Ost)
Fridericianum
Museum with temporary art exhibitions. The Fridericianum is a museum in Kassel, Germany. Built in 1779, it is one of the oldest public museums in Europe. Since 1955 the quinquennial art festival documenta is centred on the site. The exhibition building itself was fully renovated by 1982. Ever since 1988, Fridericianum has continually hosted changing exhibitions of contemporary art. Since June 2013 Susanne Pfeffer has been director of the Fridericianum.[9]
Address: Friedrichspl. 18, 34117 Kassel (Kassel Ost)
Auestadion
Stadium in Kassel, Germany. Auestadion is a multi-use stadium in Kassel, Germany close to the Karlsaue park. It is used mainly for football matches and athletic events and is the home stadium of KSV Hessen Kassel. The stadium is able to hold 18,737 people with 8,700 seats and standing terraces. It was opened on 23 August 1953, and renovated between 1983-1993 and between 2003 and 2010. It is the largest stadium in Northern Hesse.[10]
Address: Kassel, Frankfurter Str. 143, 34121 Kassel, Germany
Elfbuchen
Hill in Germany. The Elfbuchen is a hill in Hesse, Germany.[11]
Documenta-Halle
Also known as: Documenta
documenta is an exhibition of contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany. It was founded by artist, teacher and curator Arnold Bode in 1955 as part of the Bundesgartenschau which took place in Kassel at that time. It was an attempt to bring Germany up to speed with modern art, both banishing and repressing the cultural darkness of Nazism. This first documenta featured many artists who are generally considered to have had a significant influence on modern art. The more recent documentas feature art from all continents; nonetheless most of it is site-specific.
Every documenta is limited to 100 days of exhibition, which is why it is often referred to as the "museum of 100 days". Documenta is not a selling exhibition. It rarely coincides with the three other major art world events: the Venice Biennale, Art Basel and Skulptur Projekte Münster, but in 2017, all four were open simultaneously.[12]
Address: Du-Ry-Straße 1, 34117 Kassel (Kassel Ost)
St Martin's Church
Also known as: Martinskirche
Church in Kassel, Germany. St Martin's Church is a Protestant parish church in Kassel, Hesse, Germany. It is also the preaching-church of the bishop of the Evangelical Church of Hesse Electorate-Waldeck. It is in the Gothic style and was begun in 1364 and completed in 1462, dedicated to St. Martin of Tours. It became a Protestant church in 1524, when Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse converted to Protestantism. From the 16th century until the end of the 18th century it was the burial place for the landgraves of Hesse.
It was rebuilt to a slightly modified plan after the Second World War. It is a three-aisle six-bayed hall church with two towers at the west end. Its '5/8-Schluss' choir dates to the Gothic period - this style is named after the eight segments to the vaults in the five east-end arches. From 1960 until his death in 1993 the organist Klaus Martin Ziegler was the church's cantor.[13]
Address: Martinsplatz 5A, 34117 Kassel (Kassel Ost)
Kassel Synagogue
Also known as: Synagoge
The Kassel Synagogue is the description given to a succession of prayer houses of the Jewish community in Kassel, Hesse.[14]
Address: 3 Bremer Straße, Kassel (Kassel Ost)
Hessisches Landesmuseum
Museum in Kassel, Germany. The Hessian State Museum is an art museum located in Kassel, Germany. It is currently closed for renovations. The collection ranges from the Paleolithic Age to the present. The museum is also home to the German Wallpaper Museum.
It is part of the Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel.[15]
Address: Brüder-Grimm-Platz 5, 34117 Kassel (Kassel Ost)
Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister
Art gallery in Kassel, Germany. The Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister is an art gallery housed in the Schloss Wilhelmshöhe in Kassel in Germany. It is based on the collection of William VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel.[16]
Karlskirche
Evangelical church in Kassel, Germany. The Karlskirche in Kassel is a Protestant church built by Paul du Ry in 1710 for the local Huguenot community.
The church was the location of a hundred-day sound installation by John Cage in 1987.[17]
Botanischer Garten Kassel
Botanical garden in Kassel, Germany. The Botanischer Garten Kassel, also known as the Botanischer Garten der Stadt Kassel, is a municipal botanical garden located in the Park Schönfeld at Bosestraße 15, Kassel, Hesse, Germany. It is open daily without charge.
The garden was first created in 1912 as a school garden, but in 1982 converted into a general green area. Restoration began in 2002, with the aim of gradually re-establishing the garden's 1950s-era features and creating new theme gardens. Current plantings include a rose garden, a medicinal herb garden, and perennials. A cactus house exhibits 300 cacti and succulents.[18]
Address: Bosestrasse 15, 34121 Kassel (Kassel West)
Spohr Museum
The Spohr Museum is a museum in Kassel that presents the life and work of composer, violinist and conductor Louis Spohr.
It has been located in the south wing of Kassel's Kulturbahnhof since 2009. Previously, it was housed in the Murhard Library from 1959 to 1977 and in the Palais Bellevue from 1977 to 2009. It is supported by the International Louis Spohr Society e. V. In December 2017, the city of Kassel announced that the museum is to move back to Palais Bellevue.
The elongated hallway offers an introduction to the musician's life, while the rooms of the permanent exhibition display furniture, instruments and sheet music from his estate. Visitors can not only engage with the music through sound recordings, but also become active themselves at multimedia stations.
The affiliated archive makes printed music, manuscripts and other documents by Louis Spohr and from his environment available to a specialist audience.
Since 2016, the museum has been editing Louis Spohr's correspondence and making the annotated texts available online.
The Spohr Museum is a member of the Working Group of Musicians' Museums in Germany.
In 2011, the International Louis Spohr Society e.V. received the Cultural Promotion Award of the City of Kassel for the Spohr Museum's innovative mediation concept. In November 2019, the Hessian Ministry of Science and Culture presented the Spohr Museum with the "Museum of the Month" award.
Address: Franz-Ulrich-Straße 6, 34117 Kassel (Kassel Ost)
Luther Church
Church
Address: Lutherpl. 9, 34117 Kassel (Kassel Ost)