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 n ...

northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating ...

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 ...

, in central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the

Regierungsbezirk A ' (, 'governmental district') is a type of administrative division in Germany. Currently, four of sixteen ' (states of Germany) are split into '. Beneath these are rural and urban districts ' (plural, ) serve as regional mid-level local gov ...

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 ...

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

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Hesse-Kassel The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel (), spelled Hesse-Cassel during its entire existence, also known as the Hessian Palatinate (), was a state of the Holy Roman Empire. The state was created in 1567 when the Landgraviate of Hesse was divided upon t ...

, it 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 (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

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 ...

. Kassel is also known for the ''

documenta Documenta (often stylized documenta) is an Art exhibition, exhibition of contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany. Documenta was founded by artist, teacher and curator Arnold Bode in 1955 as part of the Bundesgarte ...

exhibitions 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 ...

contemporary art Contemporary art is a term used to describe the art of today, generally referring to art produced from the 1970s onwards. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a ...

. Kassel has a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

with 25,000 students (2018) and a multicultural population (39% of the citizens in 2017 had a

migration background In the Germanosphere, ''migration background'' () is a term used to describe people on the basis of Identity politics, identity and ancestry. Migration background is a variably defined Social structure, socio-demographic characteristic that desc ...

History

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

deed A deed is a legal document that is signed and delivered, especially concerning the ownership of property or legal rights. Specifically, in common law, a deed is any legal instrument in writing which passes, affirms or confirms an interest, right ...

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 n ...

. There are several yet unproven assumptions about the origin of the name. 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. The first castle in Kassel was constructed in 1277, later replaced by a Renaissance castle, the Kassel City Palace, which burned down in 1811. In 1567 the

Landgraviate of Hesse The Landgraviate of Hesse () 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 Middle Ages, the territory of He ...

, until then centered in

Marburg Marburg (; ) is a college town, university town in the States of Germany, German federal state () of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf Districts of Germany, district (). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has ...

, 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 Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

Protestantism in Germany. Strong fortifications were built to protect the

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

stronghold against Catholic enemies. Secret societies, such as

Rosicrucianism Rosicrucianism () is a spiritual and cultural movement that arose in early modern Europe in the early 17th century after the publication of several texts announcing to the world a new esoteric order. Rosicrucianism is symbolized by the Rose ...

, came to the rise, with Christian Rosenkreutz's work ''

Fama Fraternitatis ''Fama Fraternitatis Rosae Crucis'' (''Report of the Fraternity of the Rose Cross'') is an anonymous Rosicrucian manifesto published circa 1610 in Kassel, Hesse-Kassel (in present-day Germany). In 1652, Thomas Vaughan translated the work into En ...

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

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

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 is a room or dedicated building, historically where orange and other fruit trees are protected during the winter, as a large form of greenhouse or conservatory. In the modern day an orangery could refer to either ...

''. 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 (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

and to finance the construction of palaces and the Landgrave's opulent lifestyle. The

Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob Grimm, Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Grimm, Wilhelm (1786–1859), were Germans, German academics who together collected and published folklore. The brothers are among the best-known storytellers of Oral tradit ...

lived in Kassel in the early 19th century, where they collected and wrote most of their

fairy tales A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the Folklore, folklore genre. Such stories typically feature Magic (supernatural), magic, Incantation, e ...

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

Prince-elector The prince-electors ( pl. , , ) were the members of the Electoral College of the Holy Roman Empire, which elected the Holy Roman Emperor. Usually, half of the electors were archbishops. From the 13th century onwards, a small group of prince- ...

''. Shortly after, it was annexed by

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

and became the capital of the short-lived

Kingdom of Westphalia The Kingdom of Westphalia was a client state of First French Empire, France in present-day Germany that existed from 1807 to 1813. While formally independent, it was ruled by Napoleon's brother Jérôme Bonaparte. It was named after Westphalia, ...

under Napoleon's brother Jérômein 1807. The Electorate was restored in 1813. Having sided with Austria in the

Austro-Prussian War The Austro-Prussian War (German: ''Preußisch-Österreichischer Krieg''), also known by many other names,Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Second War of Unification, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), ''Deutsc ...

to gain supremacy in Germany, the principality was annexed by

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

in 1866. The Prussian administration united Nassau, Frankfurt and Hesse-Kassel into the new Prussian province of

Hesse-Nassau The Province of Hesse-Nassau () was a Provinces of Prussia, 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 ...

. 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 () 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 vehicles and weapons. Georg Ch ...

, the largest railway

locomotive A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for ...

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 Napoleon III, Emperor Napoleon III and over a hundred thousand troops, it effectively decided the war in favour of Prussia and ...

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

was sent as a prisoner to the

Wilhelmshöhe Palace The Wilhelmshöhe Palace (German: ) is a Neoclassical palace located in , a part of Kassel, Germany. It was built for Landgrave Wilhelm (William) IX of Hesse in the late 18th century. Emperor Wilhelm II made extensive use of it as a summer resid ...

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 (181 ...

's Kassel Synagogue. 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 dist ...

IX, and a local subcamp of

Dachau concentration camp Dachau (, ; , ; ) was one of the first concentration camps built by Nazi Germany and the longest-running one, opening on 22 March 1933. The camp was initially intended to intern Hitler's political opponents, which consisted of communists, s ...

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, or violence, including death or other forms of ...

for the Henschel facilities, which included tank production plants. There was also a camp for

Sinti The Sinti (masc. sing. ''Sinto''; fem. sing. ''Sintetsa, Sinta'') are a subgroup of the Romani people. They are found mostly in Germany, France, Italy and Central Europe, numbering some 200,000 people. They were traditionally Itinerant groups i ...

and

Romani people {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , po ...

(see ''

Romani Holocaust The Romani Holocaust was the genocide of European Roma and Sinti people during World War II. Beginning in 1933, Nazi Germany systematically persecuted the European Roma, Sinti and other peoples pejoratively labeled 'Gypsy' through forcible ...

''). Allied prisoners of war from the Stalag IX-A

POW camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, an ...

were deployed to forced labour in the local arms industry in violation of the

Geneva Conventions upright=1.15, The original document in single pages, 1864 The Geneva Conventions are international humanitarian laws consisting of four treaties and three additional protocols that establish international legal standards for humanitarian t ...

. The most severe

bombing of Kassel in World War II The Kassel World War II bombings were a set of Allies of World War II, Allied Strategic bombing during World War II, strategic bombing attacks which took place from February 1942 to March 1945. In a single deadliest raid on 22–23 October 1943, ...

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 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. Th ...

survived the attack generally undamaged.

Karl Gerland Karl Gerland (14 July 1905 – 21 April 1945) was a Nazi ''Gauleiter'' of Gau Kurhessen and '' Oberpräsident'' of the Prussian Province of Kurhessen. On 21 April 1945, Gerland was killed in action against the Soviet Red Army at Frankfurt (Ode ...

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 Karl Otto Paul Weinrich (2 December 1887 – 22 July 1973) was a German professional soldier who fought in the First World War. He became a Nazi Party official and politician who was the long-serving ''Gauleiter'' of Gau Kurhessen. During the Se ...

, 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 house-to-house fighting during 1–4 April 1945, which included numerous German panzer-grenadier counterattacks, and resulted in further damage to bombed and unbombed structures alike.

Post-war A post-war or postwar period is the interval immediately following the end of a war. The term usually refers to a varying period of time after World War II, which ended in 1945. A post-war period can become an interwar period or interbellum, ...

, most of the ancient buildings in the city centre were not restored, and large parts of the inner city area were completely rebuilt in the style of the 1950s. A few historic buildings, however, such as the Museum Fridericianum, 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 M ...

") 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 lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen constituent states have a total population of over 84 ...

, which the western city of

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

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

Hessentag The Hessentag (; ) 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 displays and exhibi ...

'' state festival. In 1970, 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 concurrently served as the Chancellor ...

and the prime minister of the

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

Willy Stoph met in Wilhelmshöhe Palace for negotiations between the two German states. In 1991, the central rail station moved from "Hauptbahnhof" (''main station'') to "Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe", the former now being used exclusively for regional trains. The city had a dynamic economic and social development in the recent years, reducing the unemployment rate by half and attracting new citizens.

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 to several hospitals; the public Klinikum Kassel is one of the largest hospitals in the federal state.

Geography

Kassel is the largest city in the north of the

federated state A federated state (also State (polity), state, province, region, Canton (administrative division), canton, Länder, land, governorate, oblast, emirate, or country) is a territorial and constitutional community forming part of a federation ...

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 Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the city hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival. Histor ...

. 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 governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

(''

Landkreis In 13 German states, the primary administrative subdivision higher than a '' Gemeinde'' (municipality) is the () or (). Most major cities in Germany are not part of any ''Kreis'', but instead combine the functions of a municipality and a ''K ...

'') of

Landkreis Kassel Kassel district (German language, German: Landkreis Kassel) is a Districts of Germany, district in the north of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Northeim (district), Northeim, Göttingen (district), Göttingen, Werra-Meißner, Schwalm-Ede ...

. 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 ...

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

, 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 North Hesse, no ...

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 Di ...

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

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, Dittershausen ...

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'', ''Hertin ...

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 North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geogra ...

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 in Germany. It is part of a c ...

. Of these, Vellmar and Fuldatal in the north, Kaufungen in the east, Lohfelden in the southeast and Baunatal in the south are growing closer to the urban area.

Culture

The first German

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

was built in Kassel in 1558, and a later version from 1714 survives as the Bellevue Palace. The ''Ottoneum'', the first permanent German theatre building, was built in 1606. The old building is today the Natural History Museum, and the now-called

Staatstheater Kassel The Staatstheater Kassel is a state-owned and operated German theater in Kassel, Germany. The theatre employs around 500 people. The opera house has 953 seats, the Playhouse Theatre 540 seats and the Fridericianum 99 seats. With its total number ...

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 ...

, a music publishing house distributing compositions of several critically acclaimed classical musicians. 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, exhibiti ...

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 Philosophy ...

and

, has been held regularly in Kassel. The ''documenta'' now takes place every five years. As a result of the ''documenta 6'' in 1977, Kassel became the first city 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'' originated as an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radi ...

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 multiple places in Kassel; among those are the "

7000 Oaks ''7000 OaksCity Forestation Instead of City Administration'' () is a work of land art by the German artist Joseph Beuys. It was first publicly presented in 1982 at documenta 7. The project With the help of volunteers, Beuys planted 7,000 oak tre ...

", 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, & mo ...

by the German artist

Joseph Beuys Joseph Heinrich Beuys ( ; ; 12 May 1921 – 23 January 1986) was a German artist, teacher, performance artist, and Aesthetics, art theorist whose work reflected concepts of humanism and sociology. With Heinrich Böll, , Caroline Tisdall, Rober ...

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

Climate

Kassel experiences an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: ''Cfb'') close to marine climates, with a more notable

continental Continental may refer to: Places * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' (album), an album by Saint Etienne * Continen ...

influence than

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. 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 cold ...

(''Dfb'').

Demographics

Kassel has a population of about 200,000, and is the 3rd largest city in

state and the only large city in the North Hesse region. Kassel is often called the city that located on the center of Germany due to its position. Kassel first reached its first population peak of over 100,000 in 1899, and its second in 1943 with about 225,000. Kassel was destroyed during World War II and became an industrial city in 1950s. Today, Kassel is home to multiple companies and universities.

Sights

The bombing raids of 1943 destroyed 90% of the city center. The city center 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. Timber-framed old towns are situated in suburbs like Harleshausen and Bad Wilhelmshöhe. 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 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.

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), mononymously known as Rembrandt was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and Drawing, draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in ...

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. 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, tho ...

take place, which 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 features. The '' Löwenburg'' ("Lions Castle") is a replica of a medieval castle, also built during the reign of Wilhelm IX. After the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

of 1870–71,

Napoléon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

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)

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 ...

is a large park along the Fulda River that is part of the

European Garden Heritage Network The European Garden Heritage Network is a nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) l ...

. Established in the 16th century, it is known 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 "Sola ...

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. is ...

, 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 c ...

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: *

(Antiquities Collection and Old Masters:

Albrecht Dürer Albrecht Dürer ( , ;; 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 or Duerer, was a German painter, Old master prin ...

Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged compositions reference erudite aspects of clas ...

Frans Hals Frans Hals the Elder (, ; ; – 26 August 1666) was a Dutch Golden Age painter. He lived and worked in Haarlem, a city in which the local authority of the day frowned on religious painting in places of worship but citizens liked to decorate thei ...

Anthony van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (; ; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Flemish Baroque painting, Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Spanish Netherlands and Italy. The seventh child of ...

) * 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 publ ...

(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, ...

Museum (classical music composer) Museum in the Bellevue Palace, remaining part of the Bellevueschloss palace complex * 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, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club in the city, who plays in the

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

after being relegated from the

Regionalliga Südwest The Regionalliga Südwest ('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 with t ...

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 se ...

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 o ...

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 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, 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 par ...

, and reached the semi-finals 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

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'' 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 buses complete the Kassel public transport system. The introduction of low-floor buses led to the development of the

Kassel kerb A Kassel kerb is a design of kerb (curb in US English) that features a concave-section that allows for an easier alignment for buses. The kerb was first introduced in the German city of Kassel for the low-floor tram system but has since been a ...

which improves the accessibility at bus stops. 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 Intercity Express (commonly known as ICE () and running under this category) is a high-speed rail system in Germany. It also serves destinations in Austria, France, Belgium, Switzerland and the Netherlands as part of cross-border services. It ...

(ICE) and

InterCity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the train categories in Europe, classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to InterRegio, regional train, r ...

services call as well as

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

and Flixtrain. Kassel is connected to the motorways 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 for b ...

Politics

Mayor

The current mayor of Kassel is Sven Schoeller of

Alliance 90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (, ), often simply referred to as Greens (, ), is a Green (politics), green political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of the Greens (formed in West Germany in 1980) and Alliance 90 (formed in East Ger ...

, who was elected in March 2023. He succeeded Christian Geselle (

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together wi ...

), who had been in office since 2017.

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 (; 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 asylum seekers and refugees, Tesfaiesus ...

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

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 Form ...

(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 (Left) , 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 (, AfD, ) is a Far-right politics in Germany (1945–present), far-right,Far-right: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Right-wing populism, right-wing populist and National conservatism, national-conservative p ...

(AfD) , align=left, Sven Dreyer , 233,609 , 5.6 , 5.4 , 4 , 4 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Free Voters Free Voters (, FW) is a political party in Germany. It originates as an umbrella organisation of several Free Voters Associations (), associations of people which participate in an election without having the status of a registered party. These a ...

(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 (''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 magazine ...

(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 () 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 professors. A special unit (Studienkoll ...

is a public higher education institution and was founded in 1971 as a so-called reform university. It is the newest university in the state of

Hessen Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a 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 historic cities are Da ...

and has an urban inner-city campus between the city center and the Northern city district. There were around 25,000 students enrolled at the university in 2018, 3,359 of them non-Germans. Two hundred and twenty-four students obtained their doctorate from the university in 2017. The university offers a range of study programs, and several English master's programs as well as two short-term international programs, the Summer University 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. History Kassel Art Academy After the Seven Years' War (17 ...

(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) * YMCA University of Applied Sciences (CVJM-Hochschule) * Fraunhofer-Institut für Energiewirtschaft und Energiesystemtechnik (IEE) * 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 (, ) 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 and ed ...

* 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: * the

Federal Social Court The Federal Social Court (, ) 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 insurance schemes. Tri ...

() * Hessischer Verwaltungsgerichtshof (Administration Court of Hesse) * ('' 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 S ...

(1916–2015), professor,

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...

and

Harvard School of Public Health The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is the public health school at Harvard University, located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. It was named after Hong Kong entrepreneur Chan Tseng-hsi in 2014 following a US$350 ...

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, wh ...

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

Actors and entertainment

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

Doris Devrient Dorothea Caroline "Doris" Devrient (née Böhler; 20 February 1801 – 29 May 1882) was a German actress and soprano singer, best known for comedic and soubrettes roles. Early life Dorothee Caroline Böhler was born on 20 February 1801 in Kasse ...

(1801–1882), actress and singer. *

Christine Genast Karoline Christine Genast (née Böhler; 31 January 1798 – 15 April 1860) was a German actress, singer and pianist. Early life Karoline Christine Böhler was born on 31 January 1798 in Cassel as the eldest daughter of Wilhelm Böhler, a lawy ...

(1798–1860), actress, singer and pianist. * Hubertus Meyer-Burckhardt (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 is regarded as one of cinema's most influential filmmakers for his work in the silent era. An e ...

(1888–1931), movie director in the

silent era A silent film is a film without 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 ...

(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 spen ...

(1941–2013), actor *

Meryem Sahra Uzerli Meryem Sarah Uzerli (; born 12 August 1983) is a German Turkish model and actress best known for her starring role as Hürrem Sultan in '' Muhteşem Yüzyıl'' (2011-2013), Kovan (2018) and RU (2024). She is the recipient of two Golden Butterfl ...

(born 1983), Turkish-German actress

Artists and designers

* Arnold Bode (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 ref ...

(1726–1799), architect *

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

(1833–1899), artist who designed the

Seal of California The Great Seal of the State of California was adopted at the California U.S. state, state Constitutional Convention (California), Constitutional Convention of 1849 and has undergone minor design changes since then, the last being the standardiza ...

Albrecht Rosengarten Albrecht Rosengarten (also ''Albert'' Rosengarten, 5 January 1809 – 15 August 1893) was among the first Jewish Germans permitted to train and practice as an architect and the first to design synagogues. His work was a major influence on the ''Rund ...

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

Richard Cassels Richard Cassels (1690 – 1751), also known as Richard Castle, was an architect who ranks with Edward Lovett Pearce as one of the greatest architects working in Ireland in the 18th century. Cassels was born in 1690 in Kassel, Germany. Although ...

(1690 – 1751), architect

Business

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

Horst Paulmann Horst Paulmann Kemna (22 March 1935 – 11 March 2025) was a German-Chilean billionaire businessman. He was the founder and chairman of Cencosud, the largest retail chain in Chile and the third largest in Latin America. According to ''Forbes' ...

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

Cencosud Cencosud S.A. is a publicly traded retail company based in Chile. It is 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 ...

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 ...

(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 ...

(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. Caree ...

(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 Gertrude was born in Kassel, the daughter of a poor musician, Johann Schmeling. From him she learnt to play the violin, and whi ...

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

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

(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 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. She published her music under the name Charlotte Sporle ...

(1836–1915), composer * Johannes von Soest (1448–1506), medieval musician, music theorist, poet, and composer *

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, " Stole ...

(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, ...

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 (Social Democratic Party of Germany, 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 ...

(born 1941), politician *

Werner von Fichte Werner von Fichte (4 May 1896 – 20 June 1955) was a German professional military officer who became an SA-''Obergruppenführer'' in the ''Sturmabteilung'', the Nazi Party paramilitary organization. He held several high-level commands and serve ...

(1896–1955), SA general and police chief *

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 * Heinrich von Porbeck, major general, died at the

Battle of Talavera The Battle of Talavera (27–28 July 1809) was fought just outside the town of Talavera de la Reina, Spain some southwest of Madrid, during the Peninsular War. At Talavera, a British army under Sir Arthur Wellesley combined with a Spanish ...

(1809) *

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 *

Kay-Achim Schönbach Kay-Achim Schönbach (born 9 July 1965 in Kassel) is a retired German vice admiral who served as the Inspector of the Navy of the German Navy from 24 March 2021 to 22 January 2022. Schönbach resigned his position after his political remarks regar ...

(born 1965), retired Vice Admiral of the

German Navy The German Navy (, ) is part of the unified (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Marine'' (German Navy) became the official ...

and politician (

Values Union The Values Union (, WU) is a German party founded on 17 February 2024 by transforming a seven-year-old registered association with the same name.Jérôme Bonaparte Jérôme Bonaparte (born Girolamo Buonaparte; 15 November 1784 – 24 June 1860) was the youngest brother of Napoleon, Napoleon I and reigned as Jerome Napoleon I (formally Hieronymus Napoleon in German), Kingdom of Westphalia, King of Westphal ...

(1784–1860), Prince, brother of

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

, lived in Kassel while he was king of

Westphalia Westphalia (; ; ) 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 region is almost identical with the h ...

Maria Amalia of Courland Princess Maria Amalia of Courland (Maria Anna Amalia Kettler; 12 June 1653 – 16 June 1711) was a Landgravine of Hesse-Kassel by her marriage to Charles I, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel. She was a daughter of Jacob Kettler, Duke of Courland and ...

(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 ...

(1744–1836) *

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

(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 King George III of the United Kingdom and Queen Charlotte. He held the title of Duke of Cambridge from 1801 until ...

* 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 Louise of Hesse-Kassel (, ; 7 September 1817 – 29 September 1898) was Queen of Denmark as the wife of King Christian IX from 15 November 1863 until her death in 1898. From 1863 to 1864, she was concurrently Duchess of Schleswig, Holstein an ...

(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 15 November 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 Schleswi ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

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 L ...

(1532–1592), the first

Landgrave Landgrave (, , , ; , ', ', ', ', ') was a rank of nobility used in the Holy Roman Empire, and its former territories. The German titles of ', ' ("margrave"), and ' ("count palatine") are of roughly equal rank, subordinate to ' ("duke"), and su ...

of the

Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel (), spelled Hesse-Cassel during its entire existence, also known as the Hessian Palatinate (), was a state of the Holy Roman Empire. The state was created in 1567 when the Landgraviate of Hesse was divided upon t ...

Frederick I of Sweden Frederick I (; 28 April 1676 – 5 April 1751) was List of Swedish monarchs, King of Sweden from 1720 until his death, having been prince consort of Sweden from 1718 to 1720, and was also Landgrave of Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, Hesse-Kassel fr ...

(1676–1751), King of Sweden and also Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel

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 w ...

(1515–1544) physician and botanist, authored

pharmacopoeias A pharmacopoeia, pharmacopeia, or pharmacopoea (or the typographically obsolete rendering, ''pharmacopœia''), meaning "drug-making", in its modern technical sense, is a reference work containing directions for the identification of compound med ...

and herbals *

Friedrich Armand Strubberg Friedrich Armand Strubberg (born Frédéric Armand Strubberg, March 18, 1806 in Kassel, Germany – April 3, 1889 in Linsengericht, Germany) was a merchant, physician, and pioneer colonist. Born in Germany, Strubberg spent many decades in the Unit ...

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

Justus Carl Hasskarl Justus Carl Hasskarl (6 December 1811 – 5 January 1894) was a German explorer and botanist specializing in pteridophytes, bryophytes and spermatophytes. Biography Justus Carl Hasskarl was born in Kassel in the Kingdom of Westphalia. In ...

(1809–1894), botanist specialising in

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

Bryophytes Bryophytes () are a group of land plants ( embryophytes), sometimes treated as a taxonomic division referred to as Bryophyta '' sensu lato'', that contains three groups of non-vascular land plants: the liverworts, hornworts, and mosses. In t ...

, and

Spermatophytes A seed plant or spermatophyte (; New Latin ''spermat-'' and Greek ' (phytón), plant), also known as a phanerogam (taxon Phanerogamae) or a phaenogam (taxon Phaenogamae), is any plant that produces seeds. It is a category of embryophyte (i.e. la ...

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

(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 th ...

(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 Kas ...

(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 Johann Heinrich Jung (12 September 1740, in Grund – 2 April 1817, in Karlsruhe), better known by his assumed name Heinrich Stilling, was a German author. He is often called by both surnames as "Jung-Stilling". Life He was born in the village ...

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

(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 (; born 27 May 1949) is an Israeli former judoka and current coach. He holds a 9th dan black belt. Biography Melnik is Jewish, and was born in Kassel, West Germany. He won the Israeli national championship in judo 12 times between ...

(born 1949), Israeli Olympic judoka *

Carolin Simon Carolin Simon (born 24 November 1992) is a German football player for Bayern Munich and the Germany national team. Career Club Carolin Simon began her career with the GSV Eintracht Baunatal and moved in the summer of 2008 to third division TSV ...

(born 1992), footballer

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'' (, , commonly abbreviated as ''KHM''), is a German collection of fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm, Jacob Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Wilhelm, first publish ...

* 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 Baro ...

(1736–1794),

librarian who fled to England after embezzling significant funds from

Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel Frederick II () (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 ( called "Hessians") to Great Britain to help fight ...

, and wrote (or compiled) '' The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchhausen'' * Christian Ludwig Reissig (1784–1847), romantic poet *

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.

(1816–1899), reporter, founder of the

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

news agency *

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

(1902–1999), French poet, writer, and publisher * Anant Kumar (born 1969), writer, journalist, translator and literary critic of Indian descent

Others

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

(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 on ...

(born 1942), Roman Catholic German bishop *

Nils Seethaler Nils Seethaler (born August 18, 1981, in West 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 hi ...

(born 1981), ethnologist Kassel asv2022-02 img21 Rathaus

Twin towns – sister cities

Kassel is twinned with: *

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, 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-Kreuzb ...

, Germany (1962) *

Mulhouse Mulhouse (; ; Alsatian language, Alsatian: ''Mìlhüsa'' ; , meaning "Mill (grinding), mill house") is a France, French city of the European Collectivity of Alsace (Haut-Rhin department, in the Grand Est region of France). It is near the Fran ...

, France (1965) *

Rovaniemi Rovaniemi ( , ; ; ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Lapland (Finland), Lapland. It is located near the Arctic Circle in the northern interior of the country. The population of Rovaniemi is approximately , while the Rovaniemi su ...

, 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 158,653, over 100,000 mo ...

, Sweden (1972) *

Yaroslavl Yaroslavl (; , ) 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 of the Volga and the Kotorosl rivers. ...

, Russia (1988) *

Arnstadt Arnstadt () is a town in Ilm-Kreis, Thuringia, Germany, on the river Gera (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 ...

, Germany (1989) *

Ramat Gan Ramat Gan (, ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located east of the municipality of Tel Aviv, and is part of the Gush Dan, Gush Dan metropolitan area. It is home to a Diamond Exchange District (one of the world's major diamond exch ...

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

History

Economy

Geography

Neighboring communities

Culture

Climate

Demographics

Sights

Churches

St. Martin, Kassel

St. Bonifatius, Kassel

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

Scientists and physicians

Sports

Writers and journalists

Others

Twin towns – sister cities

See also

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links