Germany: Kassel – Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe
This is supposedly the largest hillside park in Europe. The construction started in 1696 on a whim of some count or other since forgotten royalty and took 150 years to complete. The Karlsberg hill rises 526 meter / over 1500 feet above the Schloss (Castle) Wilhelmshöhe in a series of baroque cascades and fountains. And then on top of all of this stands the statue of Hercules. It was a long and hard shlop uphill and there was no “wow” moment at all – it was all really nothing special, kind of kitschy and over the top (well, literally over the top). But it is a UNESCO site, so they clearly saw something I didn’t – “the most magnificent achievement of the Baroque style in the blending of architecture and landscape.”
