Memories and hints of a travelling IT professional.
Within the forest on the Brasselsberg mountain of Kassel, Germany and between the Teufelsmauer and the Bismarckturm you need to pass a gate made of stone: the Porta Lapidaria. At least these are two rocks consisting of basalt originating from volcanic activity. One of the left-hand side of the path, one on the right-hand side. The rest is your imagination.
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The Zwehrenturm is just a tower next to the Fridericianum at the Friedrichsplatz of Kassel, Germany – why wasting a word about it? Well in fact it is not only a tower, it is the last preserved ancient city gate. It was built in 1330 in gothic style and served as the gate in the direction of Frankfurt, Germany. The building was also used as a prison and from 1709 on landgrave Charles of Hesse-Kassel made an observatory out of it.
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I don’t know how many times I passed the entrance of the Stadtmuseum of Kassel without entering it. It is located within the old Karlshospiz at the Ständeplatz but has the entrance in the rear. Maybe it were the windows closed with bricks that kept me from entering the building with the nice portal. At least I didn’t expect too many interesting things inside.
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All around us in cities there are illuminated letters: company names, advertisements, signs. But where do they go when they’re not needed anymore? Some of them have a second life, get refurbished and decorate the homes of people. A nice place where you can buy your initials in different shapes, colors and sizes – from twenty centimeters to two meters – is the QWERTZ-Buchstabenladen in Hannover, Germany.
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The Marmorbad is the last preserved representative bath in late baroque style. It is located in a building next to the orangery at the Karlsaue in Kassel, Germany. It was built between 1722 and 1728 by the order of Landgrave Carl of Hesse-Cassel. It has three floors and a pool at the center – but it was never used for its orginal purpose.
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If you’re visiting the north of Kassel, Germany along the Holländische Straße you might wonder about a strangely named place: the Halitplatz. It is a public space with a small memorial in front of a flower shop and it is named after Halit Yozgat, a former inhabitant of the city and owner of an Internet shop.
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The Naturpark Habichtswald close to Kassel, Germany offers numerous nice hiking trails. One of the best leads along the river Ahne – beginning at its source near the Essigberg. Following this trail you will pass a three kilometers long chestnut alley (the ‘Kastanienallee‘), you can make a detour to the Silbersee lake and you will see the Ahnegraben; an area where the river floats through a deep valley and creates little waterfalls.
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From the year 1880 to the year 1936 basalt was gathered at a quarry named ‘Igelsburg‘ (after a former wooden castle close-by) in the Habichtswald near Kassel, Germany. It existed there because of volcanic activity millions of years ago. Basalt was in the past used for buildings like the Herkules monument or the Löwenburg castle – but it is an imperfect material that deteriorates fast. As there was no need for the quarry anymore the area filled with water and a new lake was created: the Silbersee (‘silver lake’).
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It is the largest castle ruin of northern Hesse and you can’t overlook it because it is located on the 492 meters high Weidelsberg mountain: the Weidelsburg at Wolfhagen, Germany. It has been built somewhen around the year 1111 CE and was important because of its strategic location between the landgraviate of Hesse, the electorate of Mainz and the principality of Waldeck. From the 16th century on it was not used anymore and became a ruin.
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South of Kassel at a town called Fuldabrück, Germany you can find a nice restaurant next to river Fulda – the Fährmann (ferryman). Since the summer of 2018 it has new owners and a new fresh concept, therefore it was time for a visit. They have a guest room on two levels, a wonderful outdoor terrace and in summer they also serve the cyclists and hikers passing by along the river from a bar (called ‘Fullebude‘) outside. It’s now a very modern yet cozy place and worth a visit.
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