Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the

Fulda River The Fulda () is a river of Hesse and Lower Saxony, Germany. It is one of two headstreams of the Weser (the other one being the Werra). The Fulda is long. The river arises at Wasserkuppe in the Rhön mountains in Hesse. From there it runs north ...

in northern

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the

Regierungsbezirk A ' () means "governmental district" and is a type of administrative division in Germany. Four of sixteen ' ( states of Germany) are split into '. Beneath these are rural and urban districts. Saxony has ' (directorate districts) with more res ...

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, 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 ...

and the

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020. The former capital of the state of

Hesse-Kassel The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Kassel), spelled Hesse-Cassel during its entire existence, was a state in the Holy Roman Empire that was directly subject to the Emperor. The state was created in 1567 when the Lan ...

has many palaces and parks, including the

Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe is a landscape park in Kassel, Germany. The area of the park is , 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", bega ...

, which is a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

. Kassel is also known for the ''

documenta ''documenta'' is an exhibition of contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany. The ''documenta'' was founded by artist, teacher and curator Arnold Bode in 1955 as part of the Bundesgartenschau (Federal Horticultura ...

'' 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).

History

Kassel was first mentioned in 913 AD, as the place where two

deed In common law, a deed is any legal instrument in writing which passes, affirms or confirms an interest, right, or property and that is signed, attested, delivered, and in some jurisdictions, sealed. It is commonly associated with transferring ...

s were signed by King Conrad I. The place was called ''Chasella'' or ''Chassalla'' and was a fortification at a bridge crossing the

Fulda river The Fulda () is a river of Hesse and Lower Saxony, Germany. It is one of two headstreams of the Weser (the other one being the Werra). The Fulda is long. The river arises at Wasserkuppe in the Rhön mountains in Hesse. From there it runs north ...

. There are several yet unproven assumptions of 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 a valley." A deed from 1189 certifies that Cassel had city rights, but the date when they were granted is not known. In 1567, the

Landgraviate of Hesse The Landgraviate of Hesse (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen) was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire. It existed as a single entity from 1264 to 1567, when it was divided among the sons of Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse. History In the early Mid ...

, until then centered in

Marburg Marburg ( or ) is a university town in the German federal state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district (''Landkreis''). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has a population of approximate ...

, was divided among four sons, with

(or Hesse-Cassel) becoming one of its successor states. Kassel was its capital and became a centre of

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

in Germany. Strong fortifications were built to protect the Protestant stronghold against Catholic enemies. Secret societies, such as

Rosicrucianism Rosicrucianism is a spiritual and cultural movement that arose in Europe in the early 17th century after the publication of several texts purported to announce the existence of a hitherto unknown esoteric order to the world and made seeking its ...

flourished, with Christian Rosenkreutz's work ''

Fama Fraternitatis ''Fama fraternitatis Roseae Crucis oder Die Bruderschaft des Ordens der Rosenkreuzer'', usually listed as ''Fama Fraternitatis Rosae Crucis'', is an anonymous Rosicrucian manifesto published in 1614 in Kassel, Hesse-Kassel (in present-day German ...

'' first published in 1617. In 1685, Kassel became a refuge for 1,700

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

s who found shelter in the newly established borough of Oberneustadt. Landgrave Charles, who was responsible for this humanitarian act, also ordered the construction of the ''Oktogon'' ( Hercules monument) and of the ''

Orangerie An orangery or orangerie was a room or a dedicated building on the grounds of fashionable residences of Northern Europe from the 17th to the 19th centuries where orange and other fruit trees were protected during the winter, as a very lar ...

''. In the late 18th Century, Hesse-Kassel became infamous for selling mercenaries ( Hessians) to the British crown to help suppress the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

and to finance the construction of palaces and the Landgrave's opulent lifestyle. In the early 19th century, the

Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among the ...

lived in Kassel. They collected and wrote most of their

fairy tales A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful beings. In most cult ...

there. At that time, around 1803, the Landgraviate was elevated to a Principality and its ruler to ''

Prince-elector The prince-electors (german: Kurfürst pl. , cz, Kurfiřt, la, Princeps Elector), or electors for short, were the members of the electoral college that elected the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century onwards, the prince ...

''. Shortly after, it was annexed by

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

and in 1807 it became the capital of the short-lived

Kingdom of Westphalia The Kingdom of Westphalia was a kingdom in Germany, with a population of 2.6 million, that existed from 1807 to 1813. It included territory in Hesse and other parts of present-day Germany. While formally independent, it was a vassal state of the ...

under Napoleon's brother Jérôme. The Electorate was restored in 1813. Having sided with Austria in the

Austro-Prussian War The Austro-Prussian War, also by many variant names such as Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), (; "German war of brothers") and by a variety of other names, was fought in 186 ...

to gain supremacy in Germany, the principality was annexed by

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

in 1866. The Prussian administration united

Nassau Nassau may refer to: Places Bahamas *Nassau, Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas, on the island of New Providence Canada *Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upper Canada from 1788 to 1792 *Nassau Street (Winnipeg), ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

and Hesse-Kassel into the new Prussian province of

Hesse-Nassau The Province of Hesse-Nassau () was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1868 to 1918, then a province of the Free State of Prussia until 1944. Hesse-Nassau was created as a consequence of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 by combining the p ...

. Kassel ceased to be a princely residence but soon developed into a major industrial centre, as well as a major railway junction.

Henschel & Son Henschel & Son (german: Henschel und Sohn) was a German company, located in Kassel, best known during the 20th century as a maker of transportation equipment, including locomotives, trucks, buses and trolleybuses, and armoured fighting vehic ...

, the largest railway

locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...

manufacturer in Germany at the end of the nineteenth century, was based in Kassel. In 1870, after the

Battle of Sedan The Battle of Sedan was fought during the Franco-Prussian War from 1 to 2 September 1870. Resulting in the capture of Emperor Napoleon III and over a hundred thousand troops, it effectively decided the war in favour of Prussia and its allies, ...

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

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 Heinrich Hübsch (9 February 1795 – 3 April 1863) was a German architect. After studies in Heidelberg (1813–15) and at Friedrich Weinbrenner's school of architecture in Karlsruhe (1815–17) he traveled extensively in Greece and Italy ( ...

Kassel Synagogue The Kassel Synagogue is the description given to a succession of prayer houses of the Jewish community in Kassel, Hesse. Construction in 1839 In 1827, a previous synagogue was closed due to its dilapidated state. In 1828, the government offere ...

. During World War II, Kassel was the headquarters for Germany's

Wehrkreis The military districts, also known in some English-language publications by their German name as Wehrkreise (singular: ''Wehrkreis''), were administrative territorial units in Nazi Germany before and during World War II. The task of military distr ...

IX, and a local subcamp of

Dachau concentration camp , , commandant = List of commandants , known for = , location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany , built by = Germany , operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) , original use = Political prison , construction ...

provided

forced labour Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of ex ...

for the Henschel facilities, which included tank production plants. 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 the casualties were civilians or wounded soldiers recuperating in local hospitals, whereas

factories A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. T ...

survived the attack generally undamaged.

Karl Gerland Karl Gerland (14 July 1905 – 21 April 1945) was a Nazism, Nazi ''Gauleiter'' of Gau Electoral Hesse, Gau Kurhessen and ''Oberpräsident'' of the Prussian Province of Kurhessen. On 21 April 1945, Gerland was killed in action against the Soviet R ...

replaced the regional

Gauleiter A ''Gauleiter'' () was a regional leader of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) who served as the head of a ''Administrative divisions of Nazi Germany, Gau'' or ''Reichsgau''. ''Gauleiter'' was the third-highest Ranks and insignia of the Nazi Party, rank in ...

, 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 In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period c ...

, most of the ancient buildings were not restored, and large parts of the 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 The ''Parlamentarischer Rat'' (German for "Parliamentary Council") was the West German constituent assembly in Bonn that drafted and adopted the constitution of West Germany, the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, promulgated on 23 Ma ...

") eliminated Kassel in the first round as a city to become the provisional capital of the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...

(

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

won). In 1964, the town hosted the fourth ''

Hessentag The Hessentag (; en, Hesse Day) is an annual event, both fair and festival, organized by the German state of Hesse to represent the different regions of Hesse. The events are shown for a week to the visitors, with an emphasis on cultural disp ...

'' state festival (again in 2013). In 1972 the Chancellor of West Germany

Willy Brandt Willy Brandt (; born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm; 18 December 1913 – 8 October 1992) was a German politician and statesman who was leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) from 1964 to 1987 and served as the chancellor of West Ge ...

and the Prime Minister of the German Democratic Republic

Willy Stoph Wilhelm Stoph (9 July 1914 – 13 April 1999) was a German politician. He served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister) of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1964 to 1973, and again from 1976 until 1989. He ...

met in Wilhelmshöhe Palace for negotiations between the two German states. In 1991 the central rail station moved from "Hauptbahnhof" ( en, main station) (today only used for regional trains) to "Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe". The city had 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.

Economy

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; the public Klinikum Kassel is one of the largest hospitals in the federal state, offering a wide range of health services.

Geography

Kassel is the largest city in the north of the

federated state A federated state (which may also be referred to as a state, a province, a region, a canton, a land, a governorate, an oblast, an emirate or a country) is a territorial and constitutional community forming part of a federation. Such states d ...

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 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.

Neighboring communities

Around Kassel is the

administrative district Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

(''

Landkreis In all German states, except for the three city states, the primary administrative subdivision higher than a '' Gemeinde'' (municipality) is the (official term in all but two states) or (official term in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia ...

'') of

Landkreis Kassel Kassel district (German: Landkreis Kassel) is a district in the north of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Northeim, Göttingen, Werra-Meißner, Schwalm-Eder, Waldeck-Frankenberg, Höxter. The independent city of Kassel is nearly complet ...

. The following cities and municipalities border the city of Kassel (starting clockwise in the north):

Ahnatal Ahnatal is a municipality in the district of Kassel, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated roughly 9 km northwest of Kassel, Germany. Division of the municipality It consists of three constituent villages, Weimar, Heckershausen, and Kammerb ...

Vellmar Vellmar is a town in the Kassel (district), Kassel district, in Hesse, Germany. It is located on the Ahne river. History Vellmar gained city rights on August 30, 1975 to mark its 1200th anniversary, becoming, together with Baunatal, the youngest c ...

Fuldatal Fuldatal is a municipality in the district of Kassel, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated along the Fulda River, 5 km northeast of Kassel. Kassel-Rothwesten Airfield Kassel-Rothwesten Airfield is a former military airfield located in Rot ...

, Staufenberg,

Niestetal Niestetal is a municipality in the district of Kassel, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated on the eastern bank of the Fulda, 4 km east of Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, ...

Kaufungen Kaufungen is a municipality in the district of Kassel, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated in the narrow valley of the river Losse, surrounded by the steep, wooded hills of the Kaufunger Wald, approx. 10 kilometres east of Kassel. Geography Div ...

Lohfelden Lohfelden is a municipality in the district of Kassel, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated 6 km southeast of Kassel. It has three parts Crumbach, Ochsenhausen and the former independent Vollmarshausen. Geography Lohfelden / Vollmarshausen bor ...

Fuldabrück Fuldabrück is a municipality in the district of Kassel, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated along the Fulda river, 8 kilometers south of Kassel. The municipality of Fuldabrück consists of the former independent villages Bergshausen, Dittershaus ...

Baunatal Baunatal is a town in the district of Kassel, in Hesse, Germany. It is a comparatively young town which arose from fusion of the formerly independent municipalities ''Altenbauna'', ''Altenritte'', ''Großenritte'', ''Guntershausen'', ''Hertingshau ...

Schauenburg Schauenburg is a municipality in the district of Kassel, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated west of Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat o ...

Habichtswald ''For the town in Germany, see Habichtswald, Hesse.'' The Habichtswald is a small mountain range, covering some 35 km2 and rising to a height of 615 m, immediately west of the city of Kassel in northern Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; g ...

. 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.

Culture

In 1558, the first German

observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. His ...

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 Bärenreiter (Bärenreiter-Verlag) is a German classical music publishing house based in Kassel. The firm was founded by Karl Vötterle (1903–1975) in Augsburg in 1923, and moved to Kassel in 1927, where it still has its headquarters; it also ...

, one of the world's most important music publishers. Since 1955 the ''

'', an international

exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibition ...

modern Modern may refer to: History * Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Phil ...

and

contemporary art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic com ...

, 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 A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fir ...

beams at night (Laserscape, by artist Horst H. Baumann). This laser installation is nowadays still visible at weekends. Artworks from former editions of the ''documenta'' (mainly sculptures) can be found in many places in Kassel; among those are the "

7000 Oaks ''7000 OaksCity Forestation Instead of City Administration'' (german: 7000 Eichen Stadtverwaldung statt Stadtverwaltung) is a work of land art by the German artist Joseph Beuys. It was first publicly presented in 1982 at documenta 7. The project ...

", a work of land art by the German artist

Joseph Beuys Joseph Heinrich Beuys ( , ; 12 May 1921 – 23 January 1986) was a German artist, teacher, performance artist, and art theorist whose work reflected concepts of humanism, sociology, and anthroposophy. He was a founder of a provocative art mov ...

. The latest/current edition of the ''documenta'', known as "''documenta 15''", runs from June 18 until September 25, 2022.

Climate

Kassel experiences an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

: ''Cfb'') but not so far from marine climates, with a more notable

continental Continental may refer to: Places * Continent, the major landmasses of Earth * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' ( ...

influence than

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. Using the 1961-1990 normal and 0 °C isotherm, the city already had a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(''Dfb'').

Demographics

Sights

The bombing raids of 1943 destroyed 90% of the city center. The city 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. The oldest monument is the Druselturm; the Brüderkirche and the Martinskirche are also, in part, of medieval origin. The towers of the Martinskirche are from the 1950s.

Churches

St. Martin, Kassel

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, Kassel St. Bonifatius is a Catholic church and parish in Kassel, Hesse, Germany. It was completed in 1956, designed by Josef Bieling. The parish is dedicated to Saint Boniface, and belongs to the Diocese of Fulda. It is now part of a merged parish St. ...

St. Bonifatius was designed and built in 1956 by Josef Bieling.

Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe

The complex includes Wilhelmshöhe Palace (with 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

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consid ...

s in Germany. It is surrounded by the beautiful

with many appealing sights. The complex was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2013. Wilhelmshoehe - Herkules mit Kaskaden

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) the famous

water features In landscape architecture and garden design, a water feature is one or more items from a range of fountains, jeux d'eau, pools, ponds, rills, artificial waterfalls, and streams. Before the 18th century they were usually powered by gravity, ...

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 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 the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71

Napoléon III Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

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.

Staatspark Karlsaue (Karlsaue Park)

Another large park and also part of the

European Garden Heritage Network The European Garden Heritage Network is a nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organi ...

is the

Karlsaue The Karlsaue Park is a public and inner-city park of in Kassel (Northern Hesse, Germany). It was redesigned as a landscape garden in 1785 and consists of a mixture of visible Baroque garden elements and arranged “natural areas”. Location ...

along the Fulda River. Established in the 16th century, it is famous for the

, 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 The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Solar S ...

spanning the entire park and beyond. In addition, the Park Schönfeld contains a small, municipal

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

, the

Botanischer Garten Kassel 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 cr ...

Art museums

Europe's first public museum, 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: * Wilhelmshöhe Palace (Antiquities Collection and Old Masters:

Albrecht Dürer Albrecht Dürer (; ; hu, Ajtósi Adalbert; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer (without an umlaut) or Due ...

, Rubens,

Frans Hals Frans Hals the Elder (, , ; – 26 August 1666) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, chiefly of individual and group portraits and of genre works, who lived and worked in Haarlem. Hals played an important role in the evolution of 17th-century group ...

Anthony van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Brabantian Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy. The seventh c ...

) * New Gallery (

Tischbein family The Tischbein family was a German family of artists, originating in Hesse and spanning three generations. The family patriarch, Johann Heinrich Tischbein (1682–1764), was a master baker at the State Hospital in Haina. The Tischbeins also produced ...

) *

Hessisches Landesmuseum Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt (HLMD) is a large multidisciplinary museum in Darmstadt, Germany. The museum exhibits Rembrandt, Beuys, a primeval horse and a mastodon under the slogan "The whole world under one roof". As one of the oldest pub ...

(with a world-famous wallpaper collection).

Other museums

* Museum of Natural History (in the Ottoneum-building) * Museum of physics and astronomy in the

* Marmorbad (marble bath) in the

* Caricatura (in the Hauptbahnhof Kassel) * Museum of Local History * Tram-Museum Kassel * Technical Museum and Henschel Museum *

Louis Spohr Louis Spohr (, 5 April 178422 October 1859), baptized Ludewig Spohr, later often in the modern German form of the name Ludwig, was a German composer, violinist and conductor. Highly regarded during his lifetime, Spohr composed ten symphonies, t ...

Museum (classical music composer) *

Museum in the Bellevue Palace (closed) * Museum for Sepulchral Culture * Museum of the Brothers Grimm (known as Grimmwelt Kassel) * Museum of Modern Art (Neue Gallerie) * Gemäldegallerie Kassel in the Wilhelmshöhe Palace (Schloss Wilhelmshöhe) * Botanical Island (Insel Siebenbergen)

Sports

Hessen Kassel KSV Hessen Kassel is a semi-professional German football club based in Kassel, Hesse. KSV competes in the German Regionalliga Südwest, the fourth tier of German football. Nicknamed "Die Löwen" (the lions), the club was founded as FC Union 9 ...

is the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club in the city, who plays in the

Hessenliga The Hessenliga (until 2008 ''Oberliga Hessen'') is the highest football league in the state of Hesse and the Hessian football league system. It is one of fourteen Oberligas in German football, the fifth tier of the German football league system. ...

after being relegated from the

Regionalliga Südwest The Regionalliga Südwest ( en, Regional League Southwest) is the fourth tier of the German football league system in the states of Hesse, Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland. It is one of five leagues at this level, together wit ...

in the 2017/2018 season. The city's own football stadium, the

Auestadion 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 s ...

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 The EC Kassel Huskies are a professional ice hockey club based in Kassel, Hessen, Germany. The club currently competes in DEL2, the second level of ice hockey in Germany. The Huskies were founded in 1977 and have competed in the top five levels ...

were founding members of the

DEL Del, or nabla, is an operator used in mathematics (particularly in vector calculus) as a vector differential operator, usually represented by the nabla symbol ∇. When applied to a function defined on a one-dimensional domain, it denotes ...

in 1994, belonging to the league from 1994 to 2006 and again from 2008 to 2010. In

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

, they were runners-up in the championship playoffs, losing to Adler Mannheim, and reached the semifinals 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

. The new club was expecting no more than 3,000 supporters for the first home game in the Hessenliga. However, they had over 5,000 supporters come to watch.

Transport

KasselStassenbahnObereKoenigsstrasse2489

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 ' (; German for "city railway"; plural ') is a German word referring to various types of urban rail transport. One type of transport originated in the 19th century, firstly in Berlin and followed by Vienna, where rail routes were created that co ...

network called ''

RegioTram The Bogotá suburban rail ('' Spanish: Tren de cercanías de Bogotá''), also known as RegioTram, is a transportation project to create a mass and rapid transport system to connect Bogotá with surrounding cities. The railways of the former Bogot ...

'' using Regio Citadis low-floor trams which run on both tram and main line railway tracks with three lines (RT1, RT4, RT5). Moreover, a number of low-floor

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

es complete the Kassel public transport system. The introduction of low-floor buses led to the development of the Kassel kerb which improves the

accessibility Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i. ...

bus stop A bus stop is a place where buses stop for passengers to get on and off the bus. The construction of bus stops tends to reflect the level of usage, where stops at busy locations may have shelters, seating, and possibly electronic passenger ...

s. The city is connected to the

national rail network In United States railroading, the term national rail network, sometimes termed "U.S. rail network", refers to the entire network of interconnected standard gauge rail lines in North America. It does not include most subway or light rail lines. F ...

at two stations, Kassel Central, and Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe. The traditional central station (Hauptbahnhof) has been reduced to the status of 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 InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at m ...

services call as well as

Nightjet Nightjet (stylised as nightjet) is a brand name given by the Austrian Federal Railways ÖBB to its overnight passenger train services. ''Nightjet'' operates in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Switzerland. The ...

and Flixtrain. Kassel is connected to the

motorways A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...

A 7, A 49 and A 44. The city is served by

Kassel Calden Airport Kassel Airport (formerly ''Kassel-Calden Airport'', German ''Flughafen Kassel'') is a minor international airport serving the German city of Kassel in the state of Hesse. It is located west of Calden, northwest of Kassel and is mainly used f ...

Politics

Mayor

The current mayor of Kassel is Christian Geselle of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

(SPD), who was elected in 2017. The most recent mayoral election was held on 5 March 2017, and the results were as follows: ! colspan=2, Candidate ! Party ! Votes ! % , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christian Geselle , align=left,

, 30,403 , 56.6 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Dominique Kalb , align=left, Christian Democratic Union , 9,854 , 18.3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Eva Koch , align=left,

Alliance 90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a Green politics, green List of political parties in Germany, political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens ...

, 4,957 , 9.2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Murat Cakir , align=left, Kasseler Left , 4,483 , 8.3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Bernd Hoppe , align=left,

Free Voters Free Voters (german: Freie Wähler, FW or FWG) in Germany may belong to an association of people which participates in an election without having the status of a registered political party. Usually it involves a locally organized group of voters ...

, 2,561 , 4.8 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Matthias Spindler , align=left,

Die PARTEI (''Party for Labour, Rule of Law, Animal Protection, Promotion of Elites and Grassroots Democratic Initiative''), or Die PARTEI (''The PARTY''), is a German political party. It was founded in 2004 by the editors of the German satirical magazi ...

, 1,460 , 2.7 , - ! colspan=3, Valid votes ! 53,718 ! 99.0 , - ! colspan=3, Invalid votes ! 552 ! 1.0 , - ! colspan=3, Total ! 54,270 ! 100.0 , - ! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout ! 148,706 ! 36.5 , - , colspan=5, Source
City of Kassel

City council

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: ! colspan=2, Party ! Lead candidate ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(Grüne) , align=left,

Awet Tesfaiesus Awet Tesfaiesus ( ti, ዓወት ተስፋየሱስ; born 5 October 1974) is a German politician from Alliance 90/The Greens who has served as a member of the Bundestag from the state of Hesse since 2021. Previously a lawyer who represented asylu ...

, 1,201,167 , 28.7 , 10.7 , 20 , 7 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(SPD) , align=left, Patrick Hartmann , 1,028,529 , 24.6 , 4.9 , 17 , 4 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , align=left, Michael von Rüden , 802,551 , 19.2 , 1.5 , 14 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Kasseler Left (KL) , align=left, Violetta Bock , 469,800 , 11.2 , 0.6 , 8 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Free Democratic Party (FDP) , align=left, Matthias Nölke , 236,057 , 5.6 , 0.0 , 4 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Alternative for Germany (AfD) , align=left, Sven Dreyer , 233,609 , 5.6 , 5.4 , 4 , 4 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(FW) , align=left, Christian Klobuczynski , 94,443 , 2.3 , 0.7 , 2 , ±0 , - , , align=left, Save the Bees , align=left, Bernd Hoppe , 77,703 , 1.9 , New , 1 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(PARTEI) , align=left, Jennifer Rieger , 41,169 , 1.0 , New , 1 , New , - ! colspan=3, Valid votes ! 61,687 ! 95.7 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=3, Invalid votes ! 2,765 ! 4.3 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=3, Total ! 64,452 ! 100.0 ! ! 71 ! ±0 , - ! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout ! 147,462 ! 43.7 ! 0.9 ! ! , - , colspan=8, Source
Statistics Hesse

Education and research

University of Kassel

The

University of Kassel The University of Kassel (german: link=no, Universität Kassel) is a university founded in 1971 located in Kassel, Hessen, in central Germany. As of February 2022 it had about 25,000 students and about 3300 staff, including more than 300 profe ...

is a public higher education institution and 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 Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Darms ...

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 the university in 2017. The University offers a wide range of study programs from organic agriculture to social work. Furthermore, it offers several Englis
master's programs
as well as two short-term international programs, the

Summer University The Summer University Project is a short-term mobility program for young people all over Europe. Each summer, students from more than 120 university cities join to organize around 80 Summer Universities all over Europe, each of which lasts from te ...

and the Winter University. The

Kunsthochschule Kassel Kunsthochschule Kassel (German; "Kassel College of Art") is a college of fine arts in Kassel, Germany. Founded in 1777, it is a semi-autonomous department of the University of Kassel . Notable people * Daniel Stieglitz * Peter Angermann * Si ...

(University of Fine Arts) is also part of the university with a satellite campus directly at the Karlsaue park in the Southern city district.

Other institutions

* Kassel School of Medicine (KSM) * Fraunhofer-Institut für Windenergie und Energiesystemtechnik (IWES), the former Institut für Solare Energieversorgungstechnik (ISET) * Fraunhofer-Institut für Bauphysik (IBP) Projektgruppe Kassel * Forschungszentrum für Informationstechnik-Gestaltung (ITeG) * International Center for Development and Decent Work (ICDD) * Internationales Zentrum für Hochschulforschung Kassel (INCHER) * Zentrum für Umweltbewusstes Bauen (ZUB) * Center for Interdisciplinary Nanostructure Science and Technology (CINSaT) * AG Friedensforschung

Associations

* Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge

German War Graves Commission The German War Graves Commission ( in German) is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of German war graves in Europe and North Africa. Its objectives are acquisition, maintenance and care of German war graves; tending to next of kin; youth ...

* Gesellschaft für Christlich-Jüdische Zusammenarbeit Kassel * Spitzenverband der landwirtschaftlichen Sozialversicherung * Deutsche Rentenversicherung Hessen * Industrie- und Handelskammer Kassel (Chamber of Commerce Kassel)

Courts

Several

court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance ...

s are located in Kassel, including: *

Federal Social Court of Germany The Federal Social Court (''Bundessozialgericht'') is the German federal court of appeals for social security cases, mainly cases concerning the public health insurance, long-term care insurance, pension insurance and occupational accident insu ...

(Bundessozialgericht) * Hessischer Verwaltungsgerichtshof (Administration Court of Hesse) * Hessisches Finanzgericht * Sozialgericht Kassel (Social Court Kassel) * Arbeitsgericht Kassel (Employment Court Kassel) * Verwaltungsgericht Kassel * Oberlandesgericht Frankfurt/Main in Kassel * Landgericht Kassel (Regional Court Kassel) * Amtsgericht Kassel and Staatsanwaltschaft Kassel (Local Court Kassel)

Notable people

Academia

* Helmut Hasse (1898–1979), fundamental theorist in algebra and number theory * Dieter Koch-Weser (1916–2015), Professor,

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

and

Harvard School of Public Health The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is the public health school of Harvard University, located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. The school grew out of the Harvard-MIT School for Health Officers, the nation's first ...

* Franz Rosenzweig (1886–1929), Jewish-German theologian, philosopher and translator * Georg Friedrich Sartorius (1765–1828), academia, research historian and economist

Actors and entertainment

* Daniel Bandmann (1837–1905), actor-manager *

Hubertus Meyer-Burckhardt Hubertus Meyer-Burckhardt (born 24 July 1956 in Kassel) is a German author, television presenter and talkshow host. Life He studied history and philosophy in Munich, Berlin and Hamburg. Meyer-Burckhardt works as television journalist on Germa ...

(born 1956), television journalist and talk show host *

F. W. Murnau Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau (born Friedrich Wilhelm Plumpe; December 28, 1888March 11, 1931) was a German film director, producer and screenwriter. He was greatly influenced by Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Shakespeare and Ibsen plays he had seen at t ...

(1888–1931), movie director in the

silent era A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, wh ...

Barbara Rudnik Barbara Rudnik (; 27 July 1958 – 23 May 2009) was a German actress. Selected filmography External links * 1958 births 2009 deaths German film actresses German television actresses 20th-century German actresses 21st-century Ge ...

(1958–2009), actress *

Otto Sander Otto Sander (; 30 June 1941 – 12 September 2013) was a German film, theater, and voice actor. Life Education and early career Sander grew up in Kassel, where he graduated in 1961 from the Friedrichgymnasium. After leaving school he s ...

(1941–2013), actor *

Meryem Sahra Uzerli Meryem Sarah Uzerli (; born on 12 August 1983) is a Turkish-German actress who rose to prominence by playing Hürrem Sultan in the Turkish TV series ''Muhteşem Yüzyıl'' (2011–2013), for which she received critical acclaim and won numerous a ...

(born 1982), Turkish-German actress

Artists and designers

Arnold Bode Arnold Bode (23 December 1900 – 3 October 1977) was a German architect, painter, designer and curator. Arnold was born in Kassel, Germany. From 1928 to 1933, he worked as a painter and university lecturer in Berlin. However, when the Nazis ca ...

(1900–1977), architect, painter, designer, and founder of the documenta *

Simon Louis du Ry Simon Louis du Ry (13 January 1726 in Kassel - 23 August 1799 in Kassel) was a classical architect. Biography Simon Louis du Ry was the son of the Huguenot architect Charles du Ry and grandson of Paul du Ry of Kassel. He was from a French re ...

(1726–1799), architect *

Hugo Wilhelm Arthur Nahl Arthur Nahl (1 September 1833 – 1 April 1889) was a German-born artist, daguerreotyper, engraving, engraver, portraitist, and landscape painting, landscape painter. Nahl was a painter known for his American Old West paintings of California. ...

(1833–1899), artist who designed the

Seal of California The Great Seal of the State of California was adopted at the California state Constitutional Convention of 1849 and has undergone minor design changes since then, the last being the standardization of the seal in 1937. The seal shows Athena in ...

Albrecht Rosengarten Albrecht Rosengarten (1809–1893), was among the first Jewish Germans to be permitted to train and practice as an architect. While still a student, he assisted Heinrich Hübsch with the design of the Kassel Synagogue of 1839.Architecture of the Eu ...

(1809–1893), architect famous for synagogue buildings in Central Europe

Business

* Georges Kugelmann (1809–1882), newspaper printer *

Horst Paulmann Horst Paulmann Kemna (born 22 March 1935) is a German-Chilean billionaire entrepreneur. He is founder and chairman of Cencosud, the largest retail chain in Chile and the third largest in Latin America. According to ''Forbes'', as of July 2022 ...

(born 1935), German-Chilean billionaire entrepreneur. He is founder and chairman of

Cencosud Cencosud S.A. is a publicly traded multinational retail company. It's the largest retail company in Chile and the third largest listed retail company in Latin America, competing with the Brazilian Companhia Brasileira de Distribuição and the M ...

, the largest retail chain in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

and the third largest in

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

* Peter Gandert (1948-2016), Baker

Musicians

* Franz Curti (1854–1898), opera composer *

Andreas Dippel Andreas Dippel (30 November 1866 – 12 May 1932) was a German-born operatic tenor and impresario who from 1908 to 1910 was the joint manager (with Giulio Gatti-Casazza) of the New York Metropolitan Opera. Biography Born Johann Andreas Dippel i ...

(1866–1932), operatic tenor *

Chris Hülsbeck Christopher Hülsbeck (born 2 March 1968), known internationally as Chris Huelsbeck, is a German video game music composer. He gained popularity for his work on game soundtracks for '' The Great Giana Sisters'' and the '' Turrican'' series. Care ...

(born 1968), video game music composer *

Gertrud Elisabeth Mara Gertrud Elisabeth Mara (née Schmeling) (23 February 1749 – 20 January 1833) was a German operatic soprano. Life She was born in Kassel, the daughter of a poor musician, Johann Schmeling. From him she learnt to play the violin, and while ...

(1749–1833), operatic soprano * Israel Meyer Japhet (1818–1892) choral director in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

(1784–1859), composer and violinist, commemorated by a museum in the city *

Charlotte Sporleder Charlotte Wilhelmine Eringarde Freiin Spiegel von und zu Peckelsheim Sporleder (November 8, 1836 - January 9, 1915) was a German composer who won a medal at the Chicago World's Fair (1893), 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. She published her music under ...

(1836–1915), composer *

Johannes von Soest Johannes Steinwert von Soest (''Johannes de Susato'') (1448 – 2 May 1506) was a German composer, theorist and poet. Most biographical details about his life survive in Johannes' verse autobiography, which was printed in 1811 (although the manus ...

(1448–1506), medieval musician, music theorist, poet, and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

. *

Milky Chance Milky Chance is a German rock band originating in Kassel. It consists of vocalist and guitarist Clemens Rehbein, bassist and percussionist Philipp Dausch, and their band members, Antonio Greger and Sebastian Schmidt. Their first single, "Stolen ...

(2013–present),

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania *Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

Politicians, military and civil servants

Holger Börner Holger Börner (7 February 1931, in Kassel – 2 August 2006, in Kassel) was a German politician of the SPD. He was the 4th Minister President of Hesse from 1976 until 1987. In this position, he served as the 38th President of the Bundesrat ...

(1931–2006), politician *

Hans Eichel Hans Eichel (born 24 December 1941) is a German politician ( SPD) and the co-founder of the G20, or "Group of Twenty", an international forum for the governments and central bank governors of twenty developed and developing nations to discuss ...

(born 1941), politician *

Philipp Scheidemann Philipp Heinrich Scheidemann (26 July 1865 – 29 November 1939) was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). In the first quarter of the 20th century he played a leading role in both his party and in the young Weimar ...

(1865–1939), briefly Germany's Chancellor after the First World War *

Josias von Heeringen Josias von Heeringen (9 March 1850 – 9 October 1926) was a German general of the imperial era who served as Prussian Minister of War and saw service in the First World War. Early life Heeringen was born in Kassel in the Electorate of Hesse ...

(1850–1926), general * Johanna Vogt (1862–1944),

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

and the first woman on the city council of Kassel starting in 1919

Royalty and socialites

* Jérôme Bonaparte (1784–1860), Prince, brother of

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

, lived in Kassel while he was king of

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

Maria Amalia of Courland Princess Maria Anna Amalia of Courland (12 June 1653 – 16 June 1711) was Landgravine of Hesse-Kassel through her marriage to Charles I, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel. She was the child of Jacob Kettler, Duke of Courland and Semigallia and Mar ...

(1653–1711), noblewoman, participated in creation of park at

Prince Charles of Hesse-Kassel Prince Charles of Hesse-Kassel (, German and ; 19 December 1744 – 17 August 1836) was a cadet member of the house of Hesse-Kassel and a Danish general field marshal. Brought up with relatives at the Danish court, he spent most of his life in Den ...

(1744–1836) *

Prince Frederick of Hesse-Kassel Prince Frederick of Hesse-Kassel (11 September 1747 – 20 May 1837) was a younger member of the dynasty that ruled the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel) and a Danish general. He was born as the youngest son of Hereditary Prince Fre ...

(1747–1837) * Princess and Landgravine Augusta of Hesse-Kassel (1797–1889), consort to

Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, (Adolphus Frederick; 24 February 1774 – 8 July 1850) was the tenth child and seventh son of the British king George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. He held the title of Duke of Cambridge from 18 ...

* Landgravine Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel (1627–1686), noblewoman, member of the

House of Hesse-Kassel The House of Hesse is a European dynasty, directly descended from the House of Brabant. They ruled the region of Hesse, one branch as prince-electors until 1866, and another branch as grand dukes until 1918. Burke's Royal Families of the World, ...

Louise of Hesse-Kassel da, Louise Wilhelmine Frederikke Caroline Auguste Julie , succession = Queen consort of Denmark , image = Louise of Hesse-Kassel.jpg , reign = 15 November 1863 – 29 September 1898 , spouse = , issue = , house = ...

(1817–1898), princess of Hesse-Kassel, later queen consort of

King Christian IX Christian IX (8 April 181829 January 1906) was King of Denmark from 1863 until his death in 1906. From 1863 to 1864, he was concurrently Duke of Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg. A younger son of Frederick William, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

William IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel William IV of Hesse-Kassel (24 June 153225 August 1592), also called ''William the Wise'', was the first Landgrave of the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel). He was the founder of the oldest line, which survives to this day. Life Lan ...

(1532–1592), the first

Landgrave Landgrave (german: Landgraf, nl, landgraaf, sv, lantgreve, french: landgrave; la, comes magnus, ', ', ', ', ') was a noble title used in the Holy Roman Empire, and later on in its former territories. The German titles of ', ' ("margrave"), a ...

of the

Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Kassel), spelled Hesse-Cassel during its entire existence, was a state in the Holy Roman Empire that was directly subject to the Emperor. The state was created in 1567 when the Lan ...

Scientists and physicians

Valerius Cordus Valerius Cordus (18 February 1515 – 25 September 1544) was a German physician, botanist and pharmacologist who authored the first pharmacopoeia North of the Alps and one of the most celebrated herbals in history. He is also widely credited wit ...

(1515–1544) physician and botanist, authored

pharmacopoeias A pharmacopoeia, pharmacopeia, or pharmacopoea (from the obsolete typography ''pharmacopœia'', meaning "drug-making"), in its modern technical sense, is a book containing directions for the identification of compound medicines, and published by ...

and herbals. * Friedrich Armand Strubberg (1806–1889), merchant, physician, colonist in North America, direct descendant of Frederick I of Sweden *

Justus Carl Hasskarl Justus Carl Hasskarl (6 December 1811 – 5 January 1894) was a German explorer and botanist specializing in Pteridophytes, Bryophytes and Spermatophytes. He was co-founder of the Society of Natural Curiosities of India, in Bavaria and spent his ...

(1809–1894), botanist specialising in

Pteridophytes A pteridophyte is a vascular plant (with xylem and phloem) that disperses spores. Because pteridophytes produce neither flowers nor seeds, they are sometimes referred to as "cryptogams", meaning that their means of reproduction is hidden. Ferns, ...

Bryophytes The Bryophyta s.l. are a proposed taxonomic division containing three groups of non-vascular land plants (embryophytes): the liverworts, hornworts and mosses. Bryophyta s.s. consists of the mosses only. They are characteristically limited i ...

, and

Spermatophytes A spermatophyte (; ), also known as phanerogam (taxon Phanerogamae) or phaenogam (taxon Phaenogamae), is any plant that produces seeds, hence the alternative name seed plant. Spermatophytes are a subset of the embryophytes or land plants. They inc ...

Carl Friedrich Claus Carl Friedrich Claus (born 9 November 1827 in Kassel; died 29 August 1900 in London) was a German chemist and inventor. He patented the Claus process. Life Claus studied chemistry at University of Marburg in Germany. He emigrated to England, ...

(1827–1900), chemist *

Adolf Eugen Fick Adolf Eugen Fick (3 September 1829 – 21 August 1901) was a German-born physician and physiologist. Early life and education Fick began his work in the formal study of mathematics and physics before realising an aptitude for medicine. He ...

(1829–1901), physiologist *

Jakob Stilling Jakob Stilling (22 September 1842 – 30 April 1915) was a German ophthalmologist from Kassel. He studied medicine at several locations including Paris and Würzburg, and obtained his doctorate in 1865. In 1867 he became an eye doctor in K ...

(1842–1915), ophthalmologist, son of

Benedict Stilling Benedikt Stilling (11 February 1810 – 28 January 1879) was a German anatomist and surgeon who was a native of Kirchhain. He was the father of German ophthalmologist Jakob Stilling (1842–1915). In 1832 he received his doctorate from the Univ ...

, surgeon, and brother of Heinrich Stilling, pathologist * Carl Kaiserling (1869–1942), pathologist

Sports

Leni Junker Helene "Leni" Junker (later Thymm; 8 December 1905 – 9 February 1997) was a German sprint runner who competed at the 1928 Summer Olympics. She won a bronze medal in the 4 × 100 m, but failed to reach the final of the individual 100 m event. E ...

(1905–1997), sprinter * Yunus Mallı (born 1992), Turkish footballer *

Annika Mehlhorn Annika Mehlhorn (born 5 August 1983) is a butterfly and medley swimmer from Germany. She competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in the 200 m butterfly, but failed to reach the final. She became European champion in the 200 m butterfly at th ...

(born 1983), butterfly and medley swimmer * Yona Melnik (born 1949), Israeli Olympic judoka

Writers and journalists

*The

, Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Grimm (1786–1859), academics, linguists, cultural researchers, and authors who collected folklore and published several collections as

Grimms' Fairy Tales ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', originally known as the ''Children's and Household Tales'' (german: Kinder- und Hausmärchen, lead=yes, ), is a German collection of fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm, Grimm brothers or "Brothers Grimm", Jacob Grimm, Ja ...

* Helmut Kollars (born 1968), writer and illustrator *

Rudolf Erich Raspe Rudolf Erich Raspe (March 1736 – 16 November 1794) was a German librarian, writer, and scientist, called by his biographer John Patrick Carswell a "rogue". He is best known for his collection of tall tales '' The Surprising Adventures of Bar ...

(1736–1794),

librarian who fled to England after embezzling significant funds from Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, and wrote (or compiled) '' The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchhausen'' *

Paul Reuter Paul Julius Reuter (born Israel Beer Josaphat; 21 July 1816 – 25 February 1899), later ennobled as Freiherr von Reuter (Baron von Reuter), was a German-born British entrepreneur who was a pioneer of telegraphy and news reporting.Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

news agency * Lucien Scheler (1902–1999), French poet, writer, and publisher * Peter-Matthias Gaede (born 1951), journalist

Others

Herman Lamm Herman Karl Lamm (April 19, 1890December 16, 1930), known as Baron Lamm, was a German-American bank robber. A former Prussian Army soldier who immigrated to the United States, Lamm believed a heist required all the planning of a military oper ...

(1890–1930), German-American bank robber * Norbert Trelle (born 1942), Roman Catholic German bishop *

Nils Seethaler Nils Seethaler (born August 18, 1981, in Berlin) is a German cultural anthropologist. He researches historical collections of ethnological objects and human remains. Personal life Nils Seethaler was born in Berlin-Lichterfelde and spent his yout ...

(born 1981), Ethnologist Rathaus ks

Twin towns – sister cities

Kassel is twinned with: *

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

, Italy (1952) *

Mitte (Berlin) Mitte () is the first and most central borough of Berlin. The borough consists of six sub-entities: Mitte proper, Gesundbrunnen, Hansaviertel, Moabit, Tiergarten and Wedding. It is one of the two boroughs (the other being Friedrichshain-Kre ...

, Germany (1962) *

Mulhouse Mulhouse (; Alsatian language, Alsatian: or , ; ; meaning ''Mill (grinding), mill house'') is a city of the Haut-Rhin Departments of France, department, in the Grand Est Regions of France, region, eastern France, close to the France–Switzerl ...

, France (1965) *

Rovaniemi Rovaniemi ( , ; sme, Roavvenjárga ; smn, Ruávinjargâ; sms, Ruäʹvnjargg) is a city and municipality of Finland. It is the administrative capital and commercial centre of Finland's northernmost province, Lapland, and its southern part Per� ...

, Finland (1972) *

Västerås Västerås ( , , ) is a city in central Sweden on the shore of Mälaren, Lake Mälaren in the province of Västmanland, west of Stockholm. The city had a population of 127,799 at the end of 2019, out of the municipal total of 154,049. Västerås ...

, Sweden (1972) *

Yaroslavl Yaroslavl ( rus, Ярослáвль, p=jɪrɐˈsɫavlʲ) is a city and the administrative center of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located northeast of Moscow. The historic part of the city is a World Heritage Site, and is located at the confluence ...

, Russia (1988) *

Arnstadt Arnstadt () is a town in Ilm-Kreis, Thuringia, Germany, on the river Gera about south of Erfurt, the capital of Thuringia. Arnstadt is one of the oldest towns in Thuringia, and has a well-preserved historic centre with a partially preserved town ...

, Germany (1989) *

Ramat Gan Ramat Gan ( he, רָמַת גַּן or , ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located east of the municipality of Tel Aviv and part of the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. It is home to one of the world's major diamond exchanges, and many ...

, Israel (1990) * Kocaeli, Turkey (1999)

History

Economy

Geography

Neighboring communities

Culture

Climate

Demographics

Sights

Churches

St. Martin, Kassel

St. Bonifatius, Kassel St. Bonifatius is a Catholic church and parish in Kassel, Hesse, Germany. It was completed in 1956, designed by Josef Bieling. The parish is dedicated to Saint Boniface, and belongs to the Diocese of Fulda. It is now part of a merged parish St. ...

Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe

Staatspark Karlsaue (Karlsaue Park)

Art museums

Other museums

Sports

Transport

Politics

Mayor

City council

Education and research

University of Kassel

Other institutions

Associations

Courts

Notable people

Academia

Actors and entertainment

Artists and designers

Business

Musicians

Politicians, military and civil servants

Royalty and socialites

Scientists and physicians

Sports

Writers and journalists

Others

Twin towns – sister cities

See also

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links