Kassel, also Cassel, city in west central Germany, in Hessen, on the Fulda River. Products of this industrial center include railroad equipment, machinery, motor vehicles, textiles, and scientific instruments. The city, which has a university, is known for its exhibitions (Documenta) of contemporary art staged every four years since 1955. Museums in Kassel include the Hessen Museum, with notable exhibits on astronomy and physics and decorative arts; the New Gallery, featuring German painting; the Natural History Museum; a museum devoted to the lives and work of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, the famed philologists and folklorists who worked as librarians from 1805 to 1830 in Kassel; and galleries of painting in Wilhelmshöhe Castle.
Originally a Roman colony, Kassel was incorporated into Thüringen in the 12th century and was acquired by the landgraves of Hessen in the 13th century. Many French Huguenots settled here in the late 17th century. The city was the capital (1807-1813) of the kingdom of Westphalia, ruled by Jérôme Bonaparte, and became the capital of the Prussian province of Hessen-Nassau in 1866. Kassel was the site of a large locomotive and tank factory during World War II (1939-1945) and bombing reduced much of the city to rubble. Population (1997) 201,789.Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001
http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Kassel Information info
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