Occupying 590 acres of area in Kassel, Germany, Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe is the largest hillside park in Europe and the second largest in the world. Construction of the park began in 1689 at the behest of the Landgraves of Hesse-Kassel and finished 150 years later. Due to its exquisite fountains and monumental Baroque architecture, Bergpark (“mountain park”) has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2013.

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The Hercules Monument is the most prominent part of the park with a bronze statue of the Greek demigod Heracles. The 8.5-meter-tall statue stands on a 40-meter-high pyramid. A reservoir behind the monument gathers water that flows through a complex series of channels, valves, aqueducts, and water wheels. Finally, the water finishes its journey at the ponds in front of the Wilhelmshöhe Palace, built in Neoclassical style in the late 18th century.
lennart

The 70-meter-tall Hercules Monument is one of the oldest structures in Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe, built in the early 18th century.

lennart

The head architects of the early 18th century intended the park to be a Baroque park. Nevertheless, the subsequent architects changed the concept from French Baroque to the English Gardenlate in the late 18th century. Then, they added artificial ruins such as the Löwenburg (Lion’s Castle) and the Roman aqueduct. Furthermore, the architects extended the water garden by adding ponds like the Teufelsbrücke (Devil’s Bridge) a...