The Hercules monument is a landmark in the German city of

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geography), central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel (region), Kassel and the d ...

. It is located in the Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe (Wilhelmshöhe Mountainpark) in northern

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

, Germany. ''

Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...

'' is a copper statue depicting the ancient Greek demigod

Heracles Heracles ( ; ), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a Divinity, divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of ZeusApollodorus1.9.16/ref> and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive descent through ...

(Gr. Ηρακλής, German Herkules). The statue is located at the top of a

pyramid A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...

, which stands on top of the

octagon In geometry, an octagon () is an eight-sided polygon or 8-gon. A '' regular octagon'' has Schläfli symbol and can also be constructed as a quasiregular truncated square, t, which alternates two types of edges. A truncated octagon, t is a ...

; the statue and the other parts of the monument were constructed at different times. Today "Hercules" refers to the whole monument, including the Octagon and Pyramid. The monument is the highest point in the Wilhelmshöhe Bergpark. The monument is located in Bad Wilhelmshöhe, on the Eastern ridge of the Habichtswald. It was built in an artificial dell of the Karlsberg ( above sea level) on the western-most and highest location () of the line of sight Schloss Wilhelmshöhe – Hercules. The Hercules monument and the surrounding Wilhelmshöhe Bergpark were inscribed as a

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

in 2013, owing to their outstanding Baroque architecture and intricate water features.

Design

Water features

The

water feature 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 ...

s were built on . The cascades are a long stone structure shaped like a staircase. The water starts from the Hercules monument and runs down the cascades, Steinhöfer's waterfall, the devil's bridge, finally tumbling down the aqueduct before finally arriving at the lake where a fountain of about ends the spectacle. About of water are needed. This system relies on natural pressure from reservoirs and underground pipes whose locks are opened manually During the summer (from May until October every Wednesday and Sunday afternoon), visitors can attend this event. Additionally, every first Saturday of the months of June, July, August and September this event takes place during the evening with lights of different colors illuminating the water, the fountain and the monument features.

Octagon and statue

The Hercules monument has a total height of : for the Octagon; for the Pyramid and for the statue. The height difference between top of the statue and the bottom of the cascades is .

History

Construction of the Bergpark began in 1696. The Hercules statue was built from 1701 to 1717 and is based on the design of the Italian Giovanni Francesco Guerniero. The complex is the northernmost part of the park and is an important baroque aspect of the Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe. 520 steps lead to the top. In late 2005, a restructuring of the entire monument, including the statue was initiated. Initially, the project was to be completed in 2009. The restoration was later estimated to cost more than 24 million Euro and last through 2018.

Material

image:Herkules_mit_baugeruest.jpg, Restructuring at the Hercules monument in autumn 2006 image:Herkules-KS-bauarbeiten-verhuellt.jpg, January 2007 – Hercules still cloaked image:Hercules monument back view.jpg, Back view of the statue in September 2011 The complete structure (Octagon and Cascades) are made of

Tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock co ...

sourced from quarries nearby. This soft material has the advantage of good workability, but weathers quickly, particularly by frost-related erosion. This rapid weathering process has been a structural issue for the statue.

References

External links

* ttp://www.clipfish.de/video/2694062/wasserspiele-in-kassel/ Video of the waterfeatures (Not available to view outside of Germany) {{DEFAULTSORT:Hercules Monument (Kassel) Baroque architecture in Hesse Buildings and structures in Kassel Copper sculptures in Germany Sculptures of Heracles Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel Palaces in Hesse Sculptures of men in Germany Sculptures of mythology Statues in Germany Tourist attractions in Hesse World Heritage Sites in Germany