Kassel is best known for two things: the documenta, one of the world's most important contemporary art exhibitions held every five years, and the Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe, a hillside park crowned by the colossal Herkules statue that is the city's landmark. The park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site — its cascading water features, running down the hillside from the Herkules to the palace lake below, are a spectacle that has drawn crowds for centuries.
The city sits on the Fulda River and about 63 percent of its area is woodland, parks, and gardens with public access. The Wilhelmshöhe Palace houses an outstanding collection of Old Masters, and the Löwenburg, a faux-medieval castle in the park, adds to the romantic atmosphere. Kassel is also the focal point of the German Fairy Tale Road — the Brothers Grimm lived and worked here in the early 19th century, writing much of their famous collection. The story is told at GRIMMWELT on a hillside terrace above the city.
With 200,000 inhabitants and a university of some 18,000 students, Kassel has a youthful edge. The documenta has left permanent marks on the cityscape — notably Joseph Beuys's 7000 Oaks, each paired with a basalt block scattered throughout the city, and Walter De Maria's Vertical Earth Kilometer under the Friedrichsplatz. Local specialities include Ahle Worscht (dry-cured sausage) and beer from the local breweries.