CASSEL (also KASSEL), a city of Germany, capital of the former electorate of Hesse-Cassel, and, since its annexation by Prussia in 1866, capital of the province of Hesse-Nassau. Pop. 175,018. The earliest mention of Kassel is in 913, when it is referred to as Cassala. The town passed from the landgraves of Thuringia to the landgraves of Hesse in the 13th century, be coming one of the principal residences of the latter house in the 15th century. The burghers accepted the reformed doctrines in 1527. The fortifications of the town were restored by the land grave Philip the Magnanimous and his son William IV. during the 16th century, and it was greatly improved by the landgrave Charles (1654-173o), who welcomed many Huguenots. The lat ter founded the upper new town. In 1762 Kassel was captured by the Germans from the French; after this the fortifications were dismantled and New Kassel was laid out by the landgrave Frederick II. After changing hands several times in the nine teenth century, it was made in 1867 the capital of the newly formed Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau.
It is situated on both sides of the river Fulda, a tributary of the Weser, over which a stone bridge leads to the lower new town. The river is navigable for barges, and railways connect the town with all parts of Germany. The streets of the old town are narrow and crooked, and contain many gabled houses, gen erally of the 17th century. The principal modern streets are the Konigsstrasse, the Schone Aussicht and the Stande-platz. The Friedrichs-platz is ',0oo by 45o ft. in area. In it stands a marble statue of the landgrave Frederick II. The former resi dence of the electors (Residenzschloss) fronts this square, as well as the Museum Fridericianum. The museum contains a col lection of clocks and watches. Among other public places and buildings are the Roman Catholic church, the Konigs-platz, the Karls-platz, with the statue of the landgrave Charles, and the Martins-platz, with a large church—St. Martin's—containing the burial-vaults of the Hessian princes. The gallery of paintings contains one of the finest small collections in Europe, especially rich in the works of Rembrandt, Frans Hals and Van Dyck.
The descendants of the French refugees who founded the up per new town have a church and hospital of their own. A new Rathaus (town-hall) has been erected. The town has museums of natural history and ethnography, an industrial exhibition hall and and industrial art school. The town's command of routes explains its importance in mediaeval times, its fluctuating political fortunes in the nineteenth century and its modern development as a railway centre. It has connections with the manufacturing centres of the Ruhr, with Koblenz, with Frankfurt, with Munchen, with Leipzig and Dresden, and with Berlin. The industries em brace engine-building, the manufacture of railway carriages and plant, scientific instruments, porcelain, tobacco and cigars, iron founding, jute-spinning and other textiles.