Germany Guide
Hesse
Wilhelmshöhe
The exuberance of the palace and parks of Wilhelmshöhe is visible even from the city centre, for the flamboyant Baroque Bergpark climbs the hill in front of you along Wilhelmshöher Allee. The steepness of the incline foreshortens the view, and it's only once inside the park that you realize Wilhelmshöhe is as vast as it is spectacular. Pick up a map from the information office close to the terminus of the #1 tram (daily: April– Oct 9.30am–5.30pm; Nov– March 9.30am–4.30pm).
Created on the whim of Landgrave Karl in the first decade of the eighteenth century by the Italian Francesco Guerniero, Wilhelmshöhe is dominated by the Herkules-Oktagon (viewing platform mid-March to mid-Nov Tues– Sun 10am–5pm; €3), a fantasy castle topped by a pyramid on which stands an 8.25m-tall figure of Hercules, the work of the Augsburg coppersmith Jacob Anthoni. From the foot of the Oktagon, the stepped Kaskaden (cascades) descend for 400m; from May to early October (Wed & Sun at 2.30pm), this is the scene of the best free show in Hesse, the Wasserkünste, as water is released at the top and slowly flows downhill. It takes around ten minutes to descend the Kaskaden, then disappears, reappearing over the Steinhöfer waterfall and under the picturesque Teufelsbrücke before finally re-emerging below Schloss Wilhelmshöhe to power a spectacular 52-metre-high water jet. The entire performance takes an hour, so that you can comfortably follow its progress downhill. From June to September, there's an illuminated evening performance on the first Saturday of the month. Bus #22 ascends to the Oktagon; #23 travels through the lower reaches of the park.