Kassel Things to Do

Kassel houses the world-famous documenta every five years - that's a well-known fact. What is less known, however, is that the city buys at least one piece of art after each exhibition. Thus, many areas of Kassel have become safe havens for artworks which would otherwise have disappeared. These documenta leftovers can be seen in many places. For instance, there's the "Man walking to the sky" just in front of the train station Kassel-Hauptbahnhof. It's an impressive artwork with a man who walks up a long iron construction which looks like a diagonal lamppost. Btw, an advertisement with this man was used by the Kassel candidate of the German CDU during the election campaing in 2002. Famous, though hardly visible is an artwork on the Freidrichsplatz: the earth kilometre. It's basically a piece of metal on the ground which reminds you of the spectacular drilling of a 1km-hole at this site. All over Kassel, you come across trees (oaks, to be specific) with a block of basalt at their side. They belong to the Beuys artwork "7000 oaks" and have made Kassel's streets a lot greener. One thing I like very much is the "Pickaxe" at the Auedamm in the Karlsaue park. It looks just like a giant's favourite tool which he left for whatever reason at the shore of river Fulda.

A several story old historic building with beautiful floors - the first floor houses the literary works and paintings, memorabilia, and documenta about Hans Christian Anderson and his works. The top three floors cover the Brother Grimms, paintings about their fairy tales, and literary works, documents, mementos, and history. Everything is in German except the top floor has English translations. 4 stars out of 5. Visited 3/24/06.

One of the oldest museum buildings in Europe ... its also the location for documenta and international exhibitions. Currently holding contemporary and modern art collections. 4 stars out of 5. Visited 3/24/06

The Ottoneum was built in 1606 as a theater, in fact it is said to have been the first permanent theater building in Germany. It served as a theater for most of the seventeenth century, but was then completely remodeled in 1696 so it could house the ruling Landgrave's art and mineral collections.

The building was heavily damaged by bombs in October 1943 -- just some of the outer walls remained standing -- but it was re-built after the war and now houses the Natural Science Museum of the city of Kassel.

Admission is ordinarily EUR 1.50 for adults and 1.00 for those who get a reduction, but these prices are increased slightly when there is a special exhibition.

Open Tuesday through Sunday 10:00 - 17:00, Wednesdays until 20:00.

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The Orangerie was first built from 1701 to 1710, in a large formal garden in the French style.

Like most buildings in Kassel, the Orangerie was largely destroyed during the Second World War, and it was still more or less a ruin when it was used as the setting for Documenta 2 in 1959. Restoration was not completed until 1981.

Since 1992 the Orangerie has been the home of the Planetarium and the Museum for Astronomy and the History of Technology, (I remember going there with one of my children shortly after the opening.)

Opening hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 10:00 to 17:00.

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The Museum Fridericianum was opened in 1779. It is said to be the first building on the European continent that was conceived as a public museum. The architect was a Huguenot named Simon Louis du Ry.

The building was largely destroyed by bombs in 1941 and 1944, but was re-built after the war in time for the first Documenta in 1955.

Second photo: In the autumn of 2005 they were showing a five-part retrospective exhibition called "50 Years Documenta 1955 - 2005".

The Hercules is the landmark of Kassel, overlooking the city from the top of the forest "Habichtswald".
Originally, the statue was not planned to be on top of the 'Oktogon', the octagonal stone structure that is underneath his feet. It was not until 1713 (three years after the Oktogon has been completed) that the decision was made to build a statue on top of it.

Since then, however, it was a clear landmark of the city of Kassel, visible from a far disctance and attracting thousands of tourists as well as locals year by year.

Details of the statue:
Height : 9.20m
Length of club : 4.90m
Circumference of biceps : 2.20m
Absolute altitude : 596m

On the weekends, visitors can enter the Oktogon, climb up to the statue and enjoy the gorgeous view across Kassel!

Another attraction in Kassel-Wilhelmshoehe:
Built in between 1793 to 1806, the Lions Castle (Loewenburg) was built as an imitation of a mediavel knight's castle... deliberately built as a ruin.
It now houses a collection of old weapons and china.