"Kassel, Hesse, Germany" a Kassel Travel Page by bilgeez

Kassel stradles the borders of the Bundeslaender of Hesse and Niedersachsen.
The city is a bit more spread out than other cities in Germany of similar population (about 200,000). This could be because of the huge park in the city centre. It stretches from the Orangerie Kassel up to the Oktigon monument and statue of Hercules, a distance of over 2 kilometres. The massive park contains; ruins, Loewenburg Castle, waterfalls, a geyser, and hiking trails that wend their ways throughout the length and breadth of the park, along them one can find some pleasant cafes and restaurants to take a restful and cushy break from one's hike. There are reported to be over 600 types of trees in the Habichtswald that this park resides in. Aside from the park and the Orangerie, most of the rest of the city is fairly non-descript. The Hauptbahnhof is fairly new and of modernistic architecture. Documenta is an event held every five years in Kassel to celebrate art in Germany and particulary, in Kassel, and to tout German artists. It is a year-long celebration, and the whole city in those years, was, of course, art-oriented. The next Documenta will be in 2007.
Kassel has some pleasant beach areas along the Fulda. Some sandy, some grassy. There are of course many pleasant restaurants and Bierstubes on the same as well, where one can take in the scenery, watch the Fulda flow gently by, and eat a leisurely meal at an outdoor cafe.
Of course, the Grimm brothers lived here, and there is a museum dedicated to them.
Volkswagen also has a parts factory just outside Kassel.
I haven't spent as much time in this city as most others I've visited in Germany, but I was most impressed by the massive central park, it's not as large as NYC's, but it is impressive for it's size and what is contained therein to explore and view. The waterfall system that cascades down from the Hercules monument is amazing. It is a tiara with jewels of statues studed through out. The man-made geyser is amazing, it is non-mechanical, pressure is built up by underground valves and when it builds to a certain point the geyser is released. It is something to see!
I could easily spend much free time here if I lived in the area.