Kassel: Parks, Water Displays and Culture

Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe: Water Displays and Views

The water displays at Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe take place seasonally from May 1 to October 3 on Wednesdays, Sundays and public holidays. Visitors can follow the course of the water on foot. If you would like to include this experience in your stay, you can take the specified days and seasonal period into account when planning your trip. The Hercules Monument stands in Bergpark, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and offers spectacular views over Kassel and the surrounding low mountain landscape.

There are two starting points for accessing Bergpark: Schloss Wilhelmshöhe is in the lower area; the upper area leads to Hercules and the beginning of the water displays. These different access points can help you decide in advance which part of the park you want to focus on during your visit. Bergpark’s rose garden features 1,000 different shrub, wild and climbing roses. It received the European “Award of Garden Excellence.”

Karlsaue: Garden Art and Discoveries in the Green

The 150-hectare Karlsaue State Park is a recreational area in the city, just a few steps from central Kassel. Its history reflects changes in garden design: around 1700, the grounds were first laid out as a symmetrical Baroque garden with water basins and fan-shaped canals. At the end of the 18th century, it was redesigned as an English-style landscape garden. Visitors can still experience its Baroque sightlines and symbolic axes today.

Individual areas also have their own distinctive features. The Flower Island is a botanical cabinet of curiosities, with an abundance of plants arranged across three levels. The Planet Walk illustrates the distances and sizes of the planets in the solar system, scaled down proportionally, for visitors as they stroll. Cycling is permitted in Karlsaue only on the designated Herkules-Wartburg long-distance cycle route and on An der Karlsaue street.

At the northern end of the Baroque gardens stands Schloss Orangerie, the centerpiece of Karlsaue. It houses Hesse’s largest planetarium. Modern projection technology invites visitors on virtual flights through the galaxy. The planetarium uses a star projector and a video projection system at the same time; the ZKP-4 projector displays stars visible to the naked eye on a 10-meter dome. The gardens and planetarium offer very different themes to consider when choosing accommodation for a stay in Kassel.

Art, the Brothers Grimm and Cultural History

The Neue Galerie’s permanent exhibition “about: documenta” features original works from past documenta exhibitions. One artwork in the cityscape is Jonathan Borofsky’s “Man Walking to the Sky”: it stands in the forecourt of the Kulturbahnhof and was created for documenta 9 in 1992. Those interested in the Brothers Grimm can explore their lives, work and legacy at GRIMMWELT Kassel through artistic, multimedia and interactive approaches.

The Museum for Sepulchral Culture offers a different cultural focus. It presents exhibitions, events, research and educational programs on farewells, remembrance and coming to terms with the end of life. The permanent exhibition explores the development of burial and mourning rituals, special customs, and artistic perspectives on life and death. Sepulchral objects on display include shrouds, coffins, hearses and traditional costumes; changing special exhibitions on specific themes complement the program.

Another discovery is the Künstler-Nekropole in Habichtswald on the outskirts of Kassel, around the Blue Lake, a disused quarry. It is open year-round. Kassel brings together a wide range of interests: garden art and views, a seasonal experience at Bergpark, a planetarium, documenta works and cultural history.

To search within Kassel, you can also look at Bettenhausen and Bad Wilhelmshöhe.

Other destinations for reference: Reinhardshagen, Immenhausen, Fuldatal, Grebenstein, Haunetal, Breuna.

For the main travel overview: Kassel.