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Kassel beyond documenta

Kassel owes a great deal to documenta. But the city has much to offer besides the international art exhibition, too. Here are four tips.

Klaus Lüber, 25.07.2022
Bergpark Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe.
Bergpark Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe. © dpa

Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe

Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2013. Its gigantic water displays are particularly impressive. On Wednesday and Sunday afternoons (and on public holidays) during the summer months, over 750,000 litres of water cascade down the hill – over artificial rocks, steps and aqueducts – to create a fountain more than 50 metres high at the bottom. Other highlights worth seeing in the Bergpark are Schloss Wilhelmshöhe with its Gallery of the Old Masters, the Antiquities Collection and Graphic Arts Collection, and the Löwenburg artificial castle ruins.

The Grimmwelt museum showcases the lives and works of the Brothers Grimm.
The Grimmwelt museum showcases the lives and works of the Brothers Grimm. © GRIMMWELT Kassel/Nikolaus Frank

Grimmwelt

The brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm are regarded as the founding fathers of German studies. In the 19th century they collected fairy tales from their home country and published them in an anthology entitled “Children’s and Household Tales”. Every child in Germany is familiar with these stories. The Grimmwelt museum is dedicated to their lives and works, presented in a multimedia and artistic exhibition. The most precious exhibits include the handwritten manuscripts of the children’s and household tales – which have meanwhile been included on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register.

The artificial island of Siebenbergen features a historical Botanic Garden.
The artificial island of Siebenbergen features a historical Botanic Garden. © Asvolas/shutterstock

Insel Siebenbergen

Insel Siebenbergen is an artificial island that was created in the Staatspark Karlsaue in 1710. Since the mid-19th century it has been home to a Botanic Garden in which exotic plants and native flowers grow: today there are around 100 different plant species from all over the world. One special feature is the garden’s custom of planting thousands of early bloomers every year, turning the island into a veritable sea of blossoms.

400 million years of natural history are presented at the Ottoneum.
400 million years of natural history are presented at the Ottoneum. © Marc Venema/shutterstock

Natural history museum in the Ottoneum

Kassel’s natural history museum reveals how local flora and fauna has changed over the past 400 million years. Animals (including mammoths, cave bears and dinosaurs), landscapes and climatic conditions can be “experienced” in interactive and elaborately designed productions. Built in the Renaissance style, the Ottoneum is Germany’s oldest permanent theatre building.

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