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 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 of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020. The former capital of the state of Hesse-Kassel has many palaces and parks, including the Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 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. 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, until then centered in Marburg, was divided among four sons, with Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel) becoming one of its successor states. Kassel was its capital and became a centre of Calvinist Protestantism in Germany. Strong fortifications were built to protect 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'' first published in 1617. In 1685, Kassel became a refuge for 1,700 Huguenots who found shelter in the newly established borough of Oberneustadt. Landgrave Charles, who was responsible for this humanitarian act, also ordered the construction of the ''Oktogon'' ( Hercules monument) and of the '' Orangerie''. In the late 18th Century, Hesse-Kassel became infamous for selling mercenaries ( Hessians) to the British crown to help suppress the American Revolution and to finance the construction of palaces and the Landgrave's opulent lifestyle. In the early 19th century, the Brothers Grimm lived in Kassel. They collected and wrote most of their

fairy tales 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''. 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 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 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 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 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, 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 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 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 The Kassel World War II bombings were a set of Allied strategic bombing attacks which took place from February 1942 to March 1945. In a single deadliest raid on 22–23 October 1943, 150,000 inhabitants were bombed-out, at least 6,000 people die ...

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 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,

Karl Weinrich Karl Otto Paul Weinrich (2 December 1887 – 22 July 1973) was a Nazi Party official and politician who was ''Gauleiter'' of Gau Kurhessen. Early life Weinrich was born in Molmeck (today, Hettstedt) the son of a shoe manufacturer. After attendin ...

, 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 ...

") eliminated Kassel in the first round as a city to become the provisional capital of the Federal Republic of Germany ( Bonn won). In 1964, 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 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 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 ('' Landkreis'') 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, 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.

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 The Staatstheater Kassel is a state-owned and operated theater in Kassel, Germany. History A permanent theatre house existed in Kassel during the first decade of the 17th century. It stood immediately next to the Ottoneum near the State Theatre ...

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 ...

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 the ''documenta'' (mainly sculptures) can be found in many places in Kassel; among those are the " 7000 Oaks", a work of

land art Land art, variously known as Earth art, environmental art, and Earthworks, is an art movement that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s, largely associated with Great Britain and the United StatesArt in the modern era: A guide to styles, schools, & mov ...

by the German artist Joseph Beuys. 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: ''Cfb'') but not so far from marine climates, with a more notable continental influence than Berlin. Using the 1961-1990 normal and 0 °C isotherm, the city already had a humid continental climate (''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. E ...

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 Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe 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 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 is the Karlsaue along the Fulda River. Established in 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 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 Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditio ...

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 ...

, Joseph Beuys) * Hessisches Landesmuseum (with a world-famous wallpaper collection).

Other museums

* Museum of Natural History (in the Ottoneum-building) * Museum of physics and astronomy in the Orangerie * Marmorbad (marble bath) in the Orangerie * Caricatura (in the Hauptbahnhof Kassel) * Museum of Local History * Tram-Museum Kassel * Technical Museum and Henschel Museum * Louis Spohr Museum (classical music composer) * Brothers Grimm 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 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 after being relegated from the Regionalliga Südwest in the 2017/2018 season. The city's own football stadium, the Auestadion 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 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 The Adler Mannheim (English: ''Mannheim Eagles'', formerly Mannheimer ERC) is a professional ice hockey team of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, the highest-level ice hockey league in Germany. The team is based in Mannheim, a city in the northern pa ...

, 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 Hesse. 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 network called '' RegioTram'' using

Regio Citadis The Alstom Citadis is a family of low-floor trams and light rail vehicles built by Alstom. , over 2,300 Citadis trams have been sold and 1,800 tramways are in revenue service throughout the world, with operations in all six inhabited continent ...

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 A bus stop kerb is a special kerb (curb in US English) designed for low-floor buses that serve an elevated bus stop platform. The usage spread after good experiences with the Kassel kerb featuring a concave-section that allows for an easier ali ...

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 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 The Intercity Express (commonly known as ICE ()) is a system of high-speed trains predominantly running in Germany. It also serves some destinations in Austria, Denmark (ceased in 2017 but planned to resume in 2022), France, Belgium, Switzerla ...

(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.

Politics

Mayor

The current mayor of Kassel is Christian Geselle of the Social Democratic Party (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, Social Democratic Party , 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 , 2,561 , 4.8 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Matthias Spindler , align=left, Die PARTEI , 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 , 1,201,167 , 28.7 , 10.7 , 20 , 7 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Social Democratic Party (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 Free Democratic Party is the name of several political parties around the world. It usually designates a party ideologically based on liberalism. Current parties with that name include: *Free Democratic Party (Germany), a liberal political party in ...

(FDP) , align=left, Matthias Nölke , 236,057 , 5.6 , 0.0 , 4 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Alternative for Germany Alternative for Germany (german: link=no, Alternative für Deutschland, AfD; ) is a right-wing populist * * * * * * * political party in Germany. AfD is known for its opposition to the European Union, as well as immigration to Germany. I ...

(AfD) , align=left, Sven Dreyer , 233,609 , 5.6 , 5.4 , 4 , 4 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Free Voters (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, Die PARTEI (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 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 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 courts are located in Kassel, including: * Federal Social Court of Germany (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 Helmut Hasse (; 25 August 1898 – 26 December 1979) was a German mathematician working in algebraic number theory, known for fundamental contributions to class field theory, the application of ''p''-adic numbers to local class field theory and ...

(1898–1979), fundamental theorist in algebra and number theory *

Dieter Koch-Weser Dieter Koch-Weser (July 13, 1916 – July 19, 2015) was a German-American physician and social medicine and HIV/AIDS researcher based in the Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health. He was a long-time advocate of Dr. Albert ...

(1916–2015), Professor, Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health *

Franz Rosenzweig Franz Rosenzweig (, ; 25 December 1886 – 10 December 1929) was a German theologian, philosopher, and translator. Early life and education Franz Rosenzweig was born in Kassel, Germany, to an affluent, minimally observant Jewish family. His fa ...

(1886–1929), Jewish-German theologian, philosopher and translator *

Georg Friedrich Sartorius Georg Friedrich Sartorius (after 1827 Freiherr von Waltershausen; 25 August 1765 Kassel – 24 August 1828 Göttingen) was a German research historian, economist and professor at Göttingen University. Biography Sartorius was born in Kassel, whe ...

(1765–1828), academia, research historian and economist

Actors and entertainment

Daniel Bandmann Daniel E. Bandmann (November 1, 1837 – November 23, 1905) was an internationally known German-American Shakespearean actor who after retiring from the stage became a noted Montana rancher. In 1885 Bandmann published ''An Actor's Tour: or, Sevent ...

(1837–1905), actor-manager * Hubertus Meyer-Burckhardt (born 1956), television journalist and talk show host * F. W. Murnau (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 (1958–2009), actress * Otto Sander (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 ...

(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 (1726–1799), architect * Hugo Wilhelm Arthur Nahl (1833–1899), artist who designed the Seal of California * Albrecht Rosengarten (1809–1893), architect famous for synagogue buildings in Central Europe

Business

Georges Kugelmann Georges Kugelmann (1809–1882) was born in Kassel, where he served his apprenticeship as a compositor. Soon after, he went to Paris, where he was employed in the office of Ambroise Firmin-Didot. After trying publishing, he entered into a partners ...

(1809–1882), newspaper printer * Horst Paulmann (born 1935), German-Chilean billionaire entrepreneur. He is founder and chairman of Cencosud, the largest retail chain in Chile and the third largest in Latin America *

Peter Gandert Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

(1948-2016), Baker

Musicians

Franz Curti __NOTOC__ Jean Baptist Joseph Franz Henry Curti (1854–1898) was a Swiss-German opera composer. Curti was born 16 November 1854 at Kassel, son to the lawyer and court opera singer Anton Curti (1820-1887), and his wife Marie Clementine, née G ...

(1854–1898), opera composer * Andreas Dippel (1866–1932), operatic tenor * Chris Hülsbeck (born 1968), video game music composer * Gertrud Elisabeth Mara (1749–1833), operatic soprano *

Israel Meyer Japhet Israel Meyer Japhet (7 March 1818—10 November 1892) was a teacher, choir director, and grammarian. He was choir director at the Realschule (Adass Jeschurun) in Frankfurt am Main under Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, and composed music for synagogue ...

(1818–1892) choral director in Frankfurt am Main * Louis Spohr (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 (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 (2013–present), band.

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 (born 1941), politician * Philipp Scheidemann (1865–1939), briefly Germany's Chancellor after the First World War * Josias von Heeringen (1850–1926), general *

Johanna Vogt Johanna Sophia Wilhelmine Caroline Vogt (16 June 1862 – 12 March 1944) was a German suffragette and the first woman on the city council of Kassel starting in 1919. From 1922 until 1923, Vogt was one of the six Lutheran members (and among them, th ...

(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 Jérôme-Napoléon Bonaparte (born Girolamo Buonaparte; 15 November 1784 – 24 June 1860) was the youngest brother of Napoleon I and reigned as Jerome Napoleon I (formally Hieronymus Napoleon in German), King of Westphalia, between 1807 and 1 ...

(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 * Maria Amalia of Courland (1653–1711), noblewoman, participated in creation of park at Karlsaue * Prince Charles of Hesse-Kassel (1744–1836) * Prince Frederick of Hesse-Kassel (1747–1837) * Princess and Landgravine Augusta of Hesse-Kassel (1797–1889), consort to Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge *

Landgravine Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel (20 November 1627 – 26 March 1686), was a German princess of the House of Hesse-Kassel and by marriage Electress Palatine during 1650–1657 as the first wife of Charles I Louis, although the validity of the divorce wa ...

(1627–1686), noblewoman, member of the House of Hesse-Kassel * Louise of Hesse-Kassel (1817–1898), princess of Hesse-Kassel, later queen consort of King Christian IX of Denmark * William IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel (1532–1592), the first Landgrave 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 (1515–1544) physician and botanist, authored pharmacopoeias and herbals. *

Friedrich Armand Strubberg Friedrich Armand Strubberg (born Fredèric Armand Strubberg, March 18, 1806 – April 3, 1889) was a merchant, physician, and pioneer colonist. Born in Germany, Strubberg spent many decades in the United States. In Texas, he used the pseudonym Dr. ...

(1806–1889), merchant, physician, colonist in North America, direct descendant of

Frederick I of Sweden Frederick I ( sv, Fredrik I; 28 April 1676 – 5 April 1751) was prince consort of Sweden from 1718 to 1720, and King of Sweden from 1720 until his death and (as ''Frederick I'') also Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel from 1730. He ascended the throne f ...

* Justus Carl Hasskarl (1809–1894), botanist specialising in Pteridophytes,

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 (1827–1900), chemist * Adolf Eugen Fick (1829–1901), physiologist * Jakob Stilling (1842–1915), ophthalmologist, son of Benedict Stilling, surgeon, and brother of Heinrich Stilling, pathologist *

Carl Kaiserling Johann Carl Kaiserling (3 February 1869 - 20 August 1942) was a German pathologist who was a native of Kassel-Wehlheiden. He studied medicine in Munich, Kiel and Berlin, earning his medical doctorate in 1893. In 1902, he became privatdozent at ...

(1869–1942), pathologist

Sports

* Leni Junker (1905–1997), sprinter *

Yunus Mallı Yunus Mallı (born 24 February 1992) is a professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Süper Lig club Konyaspor and the Turkey national team. Born in Germany, and a former German youth international, he plays for the Turke ...

(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 the ...

(born 1983), butterfly and medley swimmer *

Yona Melnik Yona Melnik ( he, יונה מלניק; born 27 May 1949) is an Israeli former judoka and current coach. He is the first Israeli judoka to achieve 8th dan from the International Judo Federation. Biography Melnik is Jewish, and was born in Kassel ...

(born 1949), Israeli Olympic judoka

Writers and journalists

*The Brothers Grimm, 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 *

Helmut Kollars Helmut Kollars (born 1968 in Graz) is an Austrian illustrator and writer of children's books. Biography Kollars first set up a business as a freelance illustrator in Vienna. Stifled by laws in Austria that required artists to carry health insura ...

(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), University of Kassel librarian who fled to England after embezzling significant funds from

Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel Frederick II (german: Landgraf Friedrich II von Hessen-Kassel) (14 August 1720 – 31 October 1785) was Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel) from 1760 to 1785. He ruled as an enlightened despot, and raised money by renting soldiers ( calle ...

, and wrote (or compiled) '' The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchhausen'' * Paul Reuter (1816–1899), reporter, founder of the Reuters news agency *

Lucien Scheler Lucien Scheler (1902 – 23 April 1999) was a French author, poet, publisher, and bookseller who participated in the literary resistance against Nazism. Biography Scheler was born in Kassel, Germany in 1902. He was the grandson of philologist ...

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

Others

* Herman Lamm (1890–1930), German-American bank robber *

Norbert Trelle Norbert Trelle (born 5 September 1942) is a prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as auxiliary bishop of Cologne from 1992 till 2005, when he became bishop of Hildesheim. Life Born in Kassel, Trelle was ordained to the priesthood o ...

(born 1942), Roman Catholic German bishop * Nils Seethaler (born 1981), Ethnologist Rathaus ks

Twin towns – sister cities

Kassel is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with: * Florence, Italy (1952) * Mitte (Berlin), Germany (1962) * Mulhouse, France (1965) * Rovaniemi, Finland (1972) * Västerås, Sweden (1972) * Yaroslavl, 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, 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. E ...

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