"This is a page about the other Kassel..." Kassel by Nemorino

Kassel Travel Guide: 9 reviews and 14 photos

...not the one you had in mind.

If you do a VT Destination Search on "Kassel" you get four entries, the first two of which look completely identical:

4 Matches Found For "Kassel"
Europe > Germany > Land Hessen > Kassel
Europe > Germany > Land Hessen > Kassel
Africa > Senegal > Region de Ziguinchor > Kassel
Africa > South Africa > Free State > Kassel

This is not a programming glitch, as there really are two places called Kassel in Land Hessen.

Since there is no immediately obvious way of telling these two listings apart, it is no wonder that VT members in the past have occasionally chosen the wrong one. (As has the VT staff with its hotel listings.)

The easiest way to tell the difference is to look at the "What's Close By?" listings on the Travel Guide page. If these include "Schloß Wilhelmshöhe, 5.79 km / 3.60 miles" and "Guxhagen, 13.01 km / 8.08 miles", then you can be sure you have hit upon the City of Kassel, which has nearly 200,000 inhabitants and is located on the Fulda River in the northern part of Hessen.

Kassel stone

If, on the other hand, the places listed in "What's Close By?" include "Höchst, 4.74 km / 2.95 miles, Bad Orb, 5.09 km / 3.16 miles" and "Gelnhausen, 7.11 km / 4.42 miles", then you have landed here, in a small ex-village in the Bieber Valley, close to where the Bieber River leaves the Spessart Hills and flows into the Kinzig. (Bieber means beaver, by the way.)

This Kassel was an independent village until 1970, when it was merged with the neighboring village of Wirtheim to form the town of Biebergemünd. So now if you wanted to write a letter to someone who lives here, you would address it to "63599 Biebergemünd-Kassel". Or just "63599 Biebergemünd" -- you don't really need the word "Kassel" any more.

Bicycle route R3 in the Kinzig Valley

Since I was planning on going quite close by here anyway, on my annual bicycle trip up the Kinzig Valley to Bad Orb to attend the premiere of Carlos Krause's Summer Opera Academy, I decided to take a slight detour and see what this other Kassel looks like.

(Click on the photo to see the R3 sign.)

Last visit to Kassel: Aug 2005
Intro Updated Feb 10, 2006
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Reviews (8)

Daily shopping Shopping (1)

Well, they've got this supermarket, as well as several butcher shops and bakeries. So they don't have to drive to... more travel advice

Airing the bedclothes Local Customs (2)

Biebergemünd-Kassel is still a stronghold of the old German custom of airing out the bedclothes. Sheets and pillows... more travel advice

Cigarette machine in Biebergemünd-Kassel - Kassel

Nicotine addiction Local Customs (2)

No German village would be complete without a cigarette machine, conveniently mounted close to the ground so that even... more travel advice

Old station Transportation (1)

This is the former station building of a narrow gauge railroad that used to serve this valley. The railroad has long... more travel advice

Off The Beaten Path (4)
See All A street in Biebergemünd-Kassel

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Comments (25)

MD2nd Jun 11, 2011 at 4:54 AM Report Abuse

Thank you for visiting my Seligenstadt & Hanau pages. Oh yes, GPS thingie sometimes really gets funny.. Now imagine it should find one or the other Kassel.
toonsarah Jun 28, 2009 at 12:24 PM Report Abuse

I was intrigued to find that you have two pages with the same place name so I just had to check them out! Thanks for the explanation of this and also why people in small villages all have the same religion - I never knew that!
LoriPori Jun 9, 2009 at 3:40 AM Report Abuse

Looks like a great area to bicycle through. Lovely little page. I also like how you included the local grocery store tip. It's always good to know.
Yaqui May 24, 2009 at 4:13 PM Report Abuse

Thanks for setting this straight. Lovely page Don, looks like a wonderful place to spend a day or two.
lynnehamman May 21, 2009 at 3:53 PM Report Abuse

Don- interesting place, Kassel and I love that you have made it clear about the other Kassels too. Snow White info is cute- and I am pleased that they have updated those cigarette machines! Take them away!!!
VeronicaG Apr 1, 2009 at 8:27 AM Report Abuse

I love to hear how old buildings are utilized for something new rather than demolishing them--kudos to Kassel...
cnango Apr 9, 2008 at 4:36 PM Report Abuse

Love the old brick church & railway building. Can't wait to see the architecture in Germany. I have a German friend in California & she still hangs her sheets on a clothes line & refuses to use a clothes dryer which is as common as a stove around here.
deecat Mar 4, 2008 at 1:50 PM Report Abuse

Enjoyable a few years later, Don. You are a virtual bank of knowledge! Great custom page and so informative about details that I really find fascinating. A joy to read your pages.
Kuznetsov_Sergey Feb 18, 2008 at 11:22 AM Report Abuse

There was a film in my childhood may be you remember it "Ghosts in the Spessart Castle". The name of the Old station in Kassel reminded me this film. Thanks Don for sharing!
ATXtraveler Feb 4, 2008 at 2:36 PM Report Abuse

Interesting look here. We will actually be in Stuttgart and Frankfurt next week, Feb. 15th through 22nd!