Travel Guide Kassel

There is the everyday Kassel, a medium-sized city, and the Documenta Kassel. Since 1955, every five years, Kassel has been Documenta. For 100 days, this provincial city (194,000 inhabitants), the northernmost in the state of Hesse, became a cosmopolitan city and became the international meeting point for contemporary art: a gigantic event which, in its 2007 edition (Documenta 12), featured more than 100 artists from all over the world, to some 751,000 visitors. The great traditional museums are requisitioned by contemporary artists. The city has been transformed; in each of its streets, in the eyes of its inhabitants, one sometimes has the impression that they no longer know where to set foot for fear of trampling on some "Ready made" left here and there, or of finding themselves trapped in an overwhelming happening. The next Documenta will take place from 15 to 21 June 2022.What remains after the big show is over? A small, pleasant and green town, with very good quality museums (and free of charge, due to Documenta's policy!). Even if the city itself does not have many tourist attractions, if you love art, Kassel is a good choice, even outside Documenta. We will think of the Grimm brothers who, based here, set about reviving the world of German medieval magic.