Near the city of Kassel is a landscape park called Wilhelmshöhe. It is a series of water displays built on a mountain slope. Its construction started in 1696, only 50 years after the end of the Thirty-years war, which was the most destructive war in German history. I think it is amazing that Landgrave Wilhelm VI could bring enough resources together for such an undertaking.
It was designed during the baroque period in the English garden style. The water displays begin at the top of the mountain. It does not operate continuously; water flows down the slope in batches of 92,000 gallons.
At the very top is a bronze statue of Hercules on a stone pedestal. Water sprouts from fountains at the base of the pedestal and flows down the first of the water displays, which is a cascading water fall. (See photo.) The water then flows to the Steinhöfer Waterfall, the Devils Bridge, the Aqueduct, and the Fountain Pond.
The statue of Hercules at the top is the mascot of Kassel. It was the first colossal statue of modern times north of the Alps, constructed between 1701 and 1717 shortly before the Statue of Liberty in New York and the Hermann Monument in northern Germany. It was inspired by an ancient sculpture, a copy of which is in the museum at the base of the park. The bronze statue at Wilhelmshöhe is 8.25 meters in height, and can be identified by the club and lion's skin from Hercules's legendary trials.
The statue stands on a pyramid 29.60 meters in height, which is built on an octagon that is 32.65 meters tall, making the entire monument 70.5 meters high.
I was able to walk inside the base and up the pyramid. There is a beautiful view of Kassel from the top.
The cascades start at the octagon. They are 210 meters long, and visitors can walk along side the cascades. Occasionally water came spilling over the side, but we were prepared for rainy weather, so we didn't mind the spray.
After we walked down the side of the cascades, we hiked a few minutes to the Steinhöfer Waterfall. The architect, Karl Steinhöfer, created the impression of an old stone quarry overtaken by nature.
Heinrich Christoph Jussow designed the Devil's Bridge. The bridge spans the flow into the Höllenteich (hell's pond). The names for both the bridge and the pond come from the nearby Plutogrotte (Pluto's grotto). I don't know where the grotto got its name.
The Aqueduct was inspired by German romanticism. Previously, the accomplishments of the classical period, such as aqueducts, were an example for perfection. But during the romantic period, nature was superior to anything man-made. The photo shows the 14th arch of the aqueduct, which is broken and allows the water to fall 30 meters into a small pond.
From the Aqueduct, the water flows down to the Fountain Pond. On the edge of the pond is a small gazebo next to the stream.
The fountain is fed by a pipe that starts up above the Devil's Bridge. The pipe is closed down at the pond and is filled with water so that pressure at the pond was extremely high for the technology of 1708. The large-diameter pipe of cast-metal was difficult to produce. But when the system was built sometime before 1767, the water pressure was sufficient to cause a jet of water to shoot 50 meters into the air, using nothing but gravity.
The whole park is certainly deserving of its UNESCO designation as a World Heritage Site.
It was designed during the baroque period in the English garden style. The water displays begin at the top of the mountain. It does not operate continuously; water flows down the slope in batches of 92,000 gallons.
At the very top is a bronze statue of Hercules on a stone pedestal. Water sprouts from fountains at the base of the pedestal and flows down the first of the water displays, which is a cascading water fall. (See photo.) The water then flows to the Steinhöfer Waterfall, the Devils Bridge, the Aqueduct, and the Fountain Pond.
The statue of Hercules at the top is the mascot of Kassel. It was the first colossal statue of modern times north of the Alps, constructed between 1701 and 1717 shortly before the Statue of Liberty in New York and the Hermann Monument in northern Germany. It was inspired by an ancient sculpture, a copy of which is in the museum at the base of the park. The bronze statue at Wilhelmshöhe is 8.25 meters in height, and can be identified by the club and lion's skin from Hercules's legendary trials.The statue stands on a pyramid 29.60 meters in height, which is built on an octagon that is 32.65 meters tall, making the entire monument 70.5 meters high.
I was able to walk inside the base and up the pyramid. There is a beautiful view of Kassel from the top.
The cascades start at the octagon. They are 210 meters long, and visitors can walk along side the cascades. Occasionally water came spilling over the side, but we were prepared for rainy weather, so we didn't mind the spray.
After we walked down the side of the cascades, we hiked a few minutes to the Steinhöfer Waterfall. The architect, Karl Steinhöfer, created the impression of an old stone quarry overtaken by nature.
Heinrich Christoph Jussow designed the Devil's Bridge. The bridge spans the flow into the Höllenteich (hell's pond). The names for both the bridge and the pond come from the nearby Plutogrotte (Pluto's grotto). I don't know where the grotto got its name.
The Aqueduct was inspired by German romanticism. Previously, the accomplishments of the classical period, such as aqueducts, were an example for perfection. But during the romantic period, nature was superior to anything man-made. The photo shows the 14th arch of the aqueduct, which is broken and allows the water to fall 30 meters into a small pond.
From the Aqueduct, the water flows down to the Fountain Pond. On the edge of the pond is a small gazebo next to the stream.
The fountain is fed by a pipe that starts up above the Devil's Bridge. The pipe is closed down at the pond and is filled with water so that pressure at the pond was extremely high for the technology of 1708. The large-diameter pipe of cast-metal was difficult to produce. But when the system was built sometime before 1767, the water pressure was sufficient to cause a jet of water to shoot 50 meters into the air, using nothing but gravity.
The whole park is certainly deserving of its UNESCO designation as a World Heritage Site.
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