kevateria

i finally did a little exploring around kassel. the first two pictures here are from the Löwenburg, which was used as a model for a disney film or the like. originally, however, it was the summer playground of the count of so-and-so a long time ago. he lived most of the year in the main residence in the city proper and then his mistress lived here in the Löwenburg. interestingly, the castle was built to look aged like a ruin. this aesthetic obviously was enhanced over time, but during the second world war a bomb landed kind of right next to or maybe a little on the castle and then the ruin really was a ruin. it's in the process, still, of being rebuilt. you can see (not in these pictures) the difference between the original weak stones, used intentionally to speed the aging process, and the current work which uses solid stone. the third picture is the Schloß Wilhemshöhe, the original residence of one of the wilhelms (i'm not a historian). it was taken over for about 6 years by napolean's brother, something of a womanizer and with a reputation for being completey incompetent. the fourth picture there is a beautiful Schloß right next to the city center. a Schloß is basically just a residence for the rich aristocracy, the ruling class families and such. this particular Schloß is now called the Orangerie and houses a museum and i think something of a planetarium something or other. might be wrong, the day i was walking around there was a wedding party there taking a lot of pictures. kassel originally had three Schloßes, but the third one, the residence of wilhelm something or other, was nearly completely destroyed during the second world war.

here the first picture is kassel, obviously in the evening. that's the silhouette of the dom and way in the background, just to the right of the two Turms, you can kind of see the Herkules. the other two pics are the Schloß Wilhelmshöhe.