Archive for June, 2009
Around Kassel
Much of Kassel was destroyed in the war so there are three distinct kinds of buildings in the city: the first are the pre-War buildings which are made with brick and are more earth toned in color. These appear to be from the late 19th century and if you look closely you can see the scars in the stone work from the bombings. The second are the buildings that were rebuilt after the war. Everyone has the same decorative style but they use stucco instead of brick for the body of the building which gives them an almost plasticy feel, like these were mass produced knock offs (which in fact they were). The last kind of buildings are the modern ones. These range from classic Bauhause to poor-man’s Bauhause, from Soviet housing blocks to elegant towers-in-the-park. All these buildings are built literally right next to one another, seemingly everywhere. It makes for quite the juxtaposition.
Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe
Just got back from an epic walk. I took the tram out to the ICE station where I arrived last week and walked up the hill to the Wilhelmshöhe, a giant park that was once the estate of the King of Westphalia, Jérôme Bonaparte (brother of Napoleon). It is built into the hill (or mountain really) and is landscaped like only a rich 18th century King could afford. It was so lavish that is bordered on the ridiculous; the entire hillside was designed with waterfalls, ponds, gardens, glens, open fields, and landscape architecture that looked like it was out of The Lord of The Rings. There was a castle to the side and an aqueduct to bring water to this giant man made waterfall system. Then there was the museum, Schloss Wilhelmshöhe, which was the dude’s mansion.
Excerpts from my first week in Germany.
I’ve been keeping a journal on my computer even though I didn’t have internet access until recently. Here are a few choice parts.
