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Kassel, Germany

Kassel (until 1926 officially Cassel is a city situated along the Fulda River in northern Hessen, Germany, one of the two sources of the Weser river . It is the administrative seat of the Kassel administrative region (Regierungsbezirk) and of the district (Kreis) of the same name. The city has approx. 198,500 inhabitants (2007) and covers an area of 106.77 square kilometres. Kassel is the largest city of the north of Hessen (Nordhessen).

History

The city's name is derived from the ancient Castellum Cattorum, a castle of the Chatti, a German tribe that has lived in the area since Roman times.
Kassel as such is first mentioned in 913 as the place where two deeds were signed by king Conrad I. The place was called Chasella and was a fortification at a bridge crossing the Fulda river. A deed from 1189 certifies that Kassel had city rights, but the date of their conveyance is not known.

In 1567 the landgraviate of Hesse, until then centered in Marburg, was divided among four sons, with Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel) becoming one of its successor states. Kassel was its capital and became a centre of Calvinist Protestantism in Germany. Strong fortifications were built to protect the Protestant stronghold against Catholic enemies. In 1685 Kassel became a refuge for 1700 Huguenots who found shelter in the newly established borough of Oberneustadt. Landgrave Charles, who was responsible for this humanitarian act, also ordered the construction of the Oktagon and of the Orangerie. In the late 18th century Hesse-Kassel became infamous for selling mercenaries (Hessians) to the British crown to help suppress the American Revolution and to finance the construction of palaces and the landgrave's opulent lifestyle.
In the early 19th century the Brothers Grimm lived in Kassel and collected and wrote most of their fairy tales. At this time (1803) the landgravate was elevated to a principality and its ruler to Prince-elector. Shortly after, it was annexed by Napoleon and, in 1807 became the capital of the short-lived Kingdom of Westphalia under Napoleon's brother Jérôme. The electorate was restored in 1813.
Having sided with Austria in the Austro-Prussian War for supremacy in Germany, the principality was annexed by Prussia in 1866. The Prussian administration united Nassau, Frankfurt and Hesse-Kassel into the new Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau. Kassel ceased to be a princely residence, but soon developed into a major industrial centre as well as a major railway junction.
In 1870 after the Battle of Sedan, Napoleon III was sent as a prisoner to the castle of Wilhelmshöhe above the city.
Source: Wiipedia