You will find nearly every team sport in Kassel – but there are three major teams that everybody knows. They have two obvious commonalities: they have their stadiums in the southeast of the city (next to the Karlsaue and Buga) and they all have mascots. I normally dislike mascots in sports but I decided to give Totti (the lion of KSV Hessen Kassel), Herkules (the Siberian husky of EC Kassel Huskies) and Henner (the dragon of MT Melsungen) a chance. And I wasn’t disappointed – I saw three victories. Maybe they should have me as a talisman?
Football: KSV Hessen Kassel
The KSV Hessen Kassel is a football club with a big history and a stadium (the Auestadion) rather fitting to the past than to the present. It was an obvious idea to watch a match but I simply didn’t do it after moving to Kassel – shortly after I decided to buy a ticket, SARS-CoV-2 appeared and all matches were cancelled or no spectators were allowed. Now the large stadium becomes an advantage: people can watch matches during the pandemic safely while adhering to the distance rules. Against TSV Schott Mainz around 2,000 people (in a stadium for more than 18,000 persons) saw the first home game of the new season. Read more…
Ice hockey: EC Kassel Huskies
For me, it is the first time that I’m living in a city with an ice hockey team. I’ve never seen a match so far but I had the feeling that as an inhabitant of Kassel, Germany, you should have at least once seen a match of the Kassel Huskies. As a soccer aficionado, I had to prepare well to somehow understand the very different rules. And I didn‘t regret getting to the Eissporthalle after seeing a great 6:3 (3:0, 3:3) victory against the ESV Kaufbeuren. Read more…
Handball: MT Melsungen
Melsungen is a small city southeast of Kassel, Germany. It is known for its half-timbered houses, big companies and the MT Melsungen, a handball team playing in the Handball-Bundesliga (HBL). The team played sometime in Rotenburg an der Fulda and has now its home in the Rothenbach-Halle at Kassel. Handball was never a team sport I was watching and therefore I had to learn some rules of it in advance. Read more…
