Asch

The lake Asch at Kassel, Germany is an artifical lake created on a mountain belonging to the Habichtswald high above the city. It is used to store water for the ‘Wasserkünste’ of the Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe. In local dialect ‘Asch‘ means ‘pot‘ and that is exactly what this lake is: a pot full of water surrounded by a forest on a mountain. It is a nice place, there are benches to sit down and it is supposed to be very relaxing during summer – it doesn’t get that hot up there.

The water of the Asch comes from the old mine ‘Zeche Herkules‘ next to a restaurant at ‘Neu-Holland‘. From there it runs in a small channel to the lake – there is also a path next to it and you can follow the water. On the other side of the Asch you will see a small bridge where the water runs down the hill. It goes to the Steinhöfer Wasserfall, the Teufelsbrücke, the Aquädukt and finally the great fountain in front of Schloss Wilhelmshöhe.

Locals might find the Asch a bit frightening as it is said that in earlier days people (who had nothing to loose anymore) came here to commit suicide. But maybe that’s just a fairytale. If you want to reach the Asch there are different options. The best is to go with tramway 4 to ‘Druseltal‘ or to park the car at the ‘Wanderparkplatz Sandweg‘. You can follow the street ‘Im Druseltal‘ up the hill and then you will find a good path up to your right. On the other hand you can also get to the Löwenburg and walk from there up to the Asch – but that way is pretty steep.

Bergsee Asch
Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe
Kassel
Germany