Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe

August 2018 - on our way back to Berlin we still wanted to vist the remaining WHS. We always planned to visit Documenta Kassel at some point, but never made it. Now we had the chance to visit Kassel. We drove sträight to the top to visit Helcules and had a stunning view over the terraces and the whole park. We drove down to the park then and had another walk and views from thepark, up to the terraces. Unfortunely a lot of construction was going on at that time. We hope to come back at some point when it is more spectacular. Maybe documenta?

It is definitely one of the more interesting and unique parks in Europe. I did not read before, when and why it was build, but good, that it got acknowledged.

UNique – 6/10

The monumental statue of Hercules built on top of the tallest hill in Wilhelmshöhe Park dominates the surrounding city of Kassel. At the height of over 520 meters above the sea level, the statue can be seen from many viewpoints throughout Kassel and provides a natural culmination to the numerous natural and architectural features of the large hillside park below it. The local rulers, the Landgraves of Hesse, designed and constructed the park over the course of 150 years, with waterfalls, fountains and lakes added to the complex. As a result, a charming artificial water wonderland had developed in a capricious attempt to occasionally follow the strict rules of the English gardens, while striving to blend in with the pre-existing natural surroundings.

ESsential – 6/10

According to the fashion of the time, just like Sanssouci Palace complex, Wilhelmshöhe is sprinkled with faux ruins, Roman aqueducts and pseudo-classic temples. The Landgraves of Hesse wanted not only to show off their wealth but also to create a space for respite, contemplation and appreciation of architecture. In fact, the Löwenburg castle in Wilhelmshöhe park, which imitates a knight’s medieval castle, was one of the first of such structures in Germany and started an important trend of romantic Gothic Revival. Still, the greatest engineering achievements in the park have to do with the massive hydraulic system of underground pipes, which connect the various water features throughout Wilhelmshöhe. In order for the water to rush down the Cascades below …

The best way to see the park is by foot. It is possible to use a bicycle but there’s a lot of uphill which can be slightly unpleasant at times. Also, not all the tracks are suitable for bikes and you’ll be restricted to certain paths.

It takes several hours to walk through and see it properly. There is no need to rush and no particular route that’s best to follow – the enjoyment comes from meandering along and exploring the different paths the forks in the road point you in.

The Palace Wilhelmshöhe is easy to access because it is at the bottom of the gardens. The final climb along a series of water features to the Hercules statue is quite steep but easy enough if you take it slowly. The best forests are in this area and are a nice alternative way to get back down if you’ve walked up the main corridor in the centre of the park.

I decided to travel first to Hercules, and from there descend along the winding path beside the cascade to the schloss.To reach Hercules I took tram #3 from Kassel city centre to its terminus at Druseltal, and there transferred to bus #22 whichn ascended to the visitor centre beside the monument.

The base of the monument was shrouded in scaffolding, as was the upper terrace, which detracted from the view.

From the schloss I descended to another visitor centre and the terminus of tram #1 for the return to the city.

I took a tram from the train station to the terminus in the park and walked for about 10 minutes to the palace. As I had only 3 hours in this city, I had to skip the exhibition at the palace and walked up to the Hercules statue via the Lowenburg Castle in the rain.

I was disappointed that they were no longer doing the water show in October, but the autumn color was something to behold.

Once I reached the statue, I would have loved to have lunch or at least a cup of coffee at the restaurant, but I had to catch another bus (in fact two buses) from the visitor center back to the train station.

I have little to add to Els’s thorough review (and thorough “seeing” of the site – more so than ours!) but our experience of parking might be of use. We visited on a Sun 1 Sep 2013 i.e. a “Fountain day”. We arrived at around 12.30 and parked on the access road behind the Hercules. Things were well organized with stewards present to control traffic – the entire length of that access road (shown as K6 on Google maps) is given over to parking on one side with each car directed as far forward as possible and, at that time, we were perhaps 300 metres back (the actual car parks were already full). From what we could see when we departed later in the afternoon, cars arriving after us must eventually have reached all the way back more than a kilometer i.e “Busy” but not “impossible”. But you would want to arrive some time before the start anyway.

I would also suggest that it is worth viewing the “show” in the sequence from the very top downwards when it starts at 14.30. There is plenty of time to walk down and see the “Grand Cascade” in its full glory before the water there is turned off and the display moves on – and that way you will hear the “musical statues” near the start! As the Nomination File states, “the course of the water is interrupted by three oval basins spanning the entire width of the Cascade. While these fill …

This brand-new WHS is a likely candidate to make it into our “One million visitors or more” connection. After the designation as a WHS, the average visitor numbers rose from 3,000 to 8,000 on the days that the waterworks are displayed (Wednesday and Sunday). I had chosen Wednesday for my visit, hoping that this would be the quietest of the two days. Kassel is located almost at the center of Germany, and within easy reach of the big cities in the Ruhrgebiet and Frankfurt. It also isn’t too far from the Dutch, Belgian and Polish borders. So these huge visitor numbers are no mystery.

I had arrived the evening before, and stayed for the night in a hotel in Bad Wilhelmshöhe – the suburb the Bergpark is located in. This way I had an early start the next morning. My car was the 5th at the parking lot of Wilhelmshöhe Palace. There’s no entrance fee to the park, and it’s not fenced off either. Lots of trails meander in and out of it. Arriving before 9 a.m., I only met a few joggers and people walking their dogs.

In about 2 hours I walked up from the lower car park to the statue of Hercules. It’s over 5 km, and there are a couple of follies and other distractions to see on the way. The largest of these is the Löwenburg Castle, a mock medieval castle. Tours of the interior are given on the hour, but when I …

I visited this WHS 10 days before it was inscribed in the list in June 2013. Everybody knew already that it would be inscribed as a WHS and there were posters everywhere showing that it would be inscribed on the list shortly. The park and gardens are very well kept and there are streams, waterfalls, ponds, fountains and beautiful landscapes ... all rigorously artificial and man-made! I really enjoyed the steep walk to the Hercules statue which has recently undergone restoration and cleaning. The view of Kassel from the Hercules statue is well worth the climb. I visited by car and there is a very convenient Schlosshotel car park near the entrance to the park open to non-guests too. Interesting and enjoyable day trip especially on a sunny day.