Hercules lives in Kassel

Castles and Kassel

I had decided upon Kassel as a stop in Germany on the basis of it being described by former Couchsurfers, and my former flatmate Lina as a must. Lina was again my host and guide for my stay in Kassel. I can't thank Lina enough for her hospitality during this trip.

Kassel was literally the surprise package of Germany. Alas in saying this I need to identify that emphasis was on the word "package". Because in Kassel that's what they seemed to have focused on in the past. Let me explain.

Hecules i on a pedestal in Kassel

You see Williamshöhe Park, is the most important park and castle built on the side of a hill on the edge of Kassel. This Palace was the vision of Jerome Bonaparte, the other other brother of Napoleon. Jerome was appointed the King of the region by his more famous brother. During his time Jerome spent up big on partying and castles. Yes I had never heard of Jerome before either. And well after seeing the park I kind of now understand why this place has never been given the top billing as a site of significance outside of local tourism.

It seems that Kassel, or well the builders of the most important park of Kassel were somewhat oblivious to what they were designing, or just very clever comedians having a good ol' chuckle to themselves. It's not until you've seen a map, or started the accent to the top that you realise you're in one giant phallic symbol of a park. It seems Napoleon had a family secret. That secret being that his brother Jerome loved the penis!

Whether it was that he was gay, or he was just in loud and proud of his own anatomy we'll never really know. Don't need to know. But one thing for sure is that once you've had the first one pointed out, then that's all you see. Makes for a funny park walk when you realise you realise that you've just walked around a symbolic water feature with 2 wider symetrical ponds at the bottom, and were now walking uphill along a cascading straight water feature, towards a giant Hercules statue perched on the top of a hill. Innocent, yeah right!

Having mentioned all this, the park is absolutely stunning. The walk uphill, although it took away my breadth was worth every step. It is a place of beauty even in the cold winter. For anyone wanting to see a map of the park as a reference. Look here.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Bergpark_wilhelmshoehe_karte_1.jpg

Anyway that's not what Kassel was all about. There was a 2nd significant castle nearer to the centre of the city. Grand in size, and a magnificent in appearance. But with less phallic references.

That evening, Good Friday, was my last night of going out in Germany. Luckily with Kassel being Lina's old stomping ground we were able to find a great local pub with a few of her friends to sit and drink with. One last German Weissbier.