Sights Archives ⋆ Page 59 of 156 ⋆ The Passenger

April 22, 2020April 22, 2020

Dorothea-Viehmann-Park

Maybe it is only a long-stretched park in the city quarter Oberzwehren of Kassel, Germany – but it is a nice place to relax and it has a special character. The Dorothea-Viehmann-Park is named after the woman living at Knallhütte (today mostly known for a local brewery) close to one of the major roads leading into Kassel. She retrieved fairytales from people of various countries and collected them – later she became the most important source for the Brothers Grimm.

April 18, 2020April 19, 2020

Kasseler Hafen

Most people might not even know that Kassel, Germany, has a harbour. It is not far away from the city centre but a little bit set aside. And since 1977 it is only used for yachting. If you get there you’ll immediately see that it had other purposes in the past – there are still large warehouses and train tracks that lead directly to the water. The harbour was opened in 1895 and used to transport goods from the North Sea via the rivers Weser und Fulda to Kassel. The opening ceremony included a group of ships travelling the Fulda up from Hann. Münden.

April 11, 2020April 17, 2020

Fuldaseilbahn

Seilfähre Beiseförth-Binsförth, Malsfeld

When travelling by bike there are different options to cross a river like the Fulda. The most often used and most boring are obviously bridges. My most favourite one are ferries like the nice Weserfähre between Hemeln and Veckerhagen. But there is also a rather exotic one south of Melsungen, Germany: a manually operated funicular. It is connecting the two villages Beiseförth and Binsförth. Never heard of? Don’t worry.

April 5, 2020April 14, 2022

Cute small town

While the historic city centre of Kassel, Germany has been fully destroyed during World War II there are some nice old cities around it. The most obvious is for sure Hann. Münden in the north, but there is also Melsungen in the south which is worth a visit. It was mentioned first in the year 802 CE, is located at the river Fulda and contains many beautiful half-timbered houses. A very good example of this is the historic town hall. Worth visiting are also the castle and the Stadtkirche; most iconic is the Bartenwetzerbrücke next to the city centre.

April 2, 2020April 2, 2020

Edermündung

The Eder is a 176 kilometres long river – the longest that flows into river Fulda. It originates from the Rothaargebirge in North Rhine-Westphalia and is best known for the artificial lake Edersee with many touristic attractions next to it – like Schloß Waldeck, the Wildtierpark and a treetop walk. The river Eder ends close to Kassel, Germany. It runs into the Fulda near a village called Grifte belonging to Edermünde. This geographical situation became a problem in 1943 when during the British Operation Chastise the dam of the lake was bombed and a massive flood wave reached Kassel via the Eder.

March 31, 2020March 31, 2020

Autobahn

German motorways are known throughout the world as you can drive on them as fast as you want. Whether this makes sense and how often you can really go fast (because of speed limits and massive construction works) are other discussions. A common myth is also that the Autobahn is a legacy of Adolf Hitler – in fact the motorways were planned before his time and his regime only accelerated the construction works. On the other hand, his war also stopped the construction of different parts of the motorway network – a good example is the Strecke 78 which should have connected Kassel to Eisenach and Erfurt. A road that doesn’t exist even today.

March 30, 2020May 10, 2020

Leiselpark

The Leisel is a small river at Baunatal, Germany. Between the city quarters Altenbauna and Kirchbauna it runs into river Bauna (giving the city its name) – and exactly there you can find the Leiselpark, the local recreation zone of Baunatal. It is a nice long-stretched park with different paths to stroll around and a big playground. At one end of the park you can find the Leiselsee – an artificial lake created from the waters of the river.

March 26, 2020May 13, 2022

Knallhütte

If somebody would ask me about my most favourite local beer, I would always answer ‘Hütt naturtrüb‘, a delicious non-filtered Pilsener brewed by the Hütt-Brauerei located at Baunatal, Germany. Since 1752 they brew beer at a location called Knallhütte close to motorway A49. In former times carriages needed additional horses to get on top of the hill and signalled this using their horsewhips – the sound of this gave the place its name (‘knallen‘ = banging). Today you can take a tour at the brewery, buy some beer at their shop or enjoy good food in the restaurant.

March 25, 2020March 28, 2020

Warteberg

The Warteberg is a 229 meters high mountain in the city quarter Philippinenhof-Warteberg of Kassel, Germany. Living there must be nice and painful at the same time: because of the great views you can have, but I wouldn’t want to climb up this mountain every day; I totally underestimated it. It is located in the north of the city directly at the border to Vellmar. On top, you will find a small park where you can sit down between trees and have a relaxed look at the valley of the river Fulda.

March 19, 2020March 19, 2020

Magazinhof

Locals call it the Nazikaserne (Nazi barracks): the Magazinhof at Kassel, Germany. It was built in 1940 for the Wehrmacht which used it to store grain and other food (it was officially called Ersatzverpflegungsmagazin). After the war, the Bundeswehr took over the three buildings and stored cloth inside. In 1994 the army moved out, the buildings deteriorated, trees began to grow within the buildings, vandalism happened and fires broke out. But the building was protected by monument protection and therefore it was hard to sell.