Kassel, Germany

Kassel is a city of roughly 205,000 residents on the Fulda River in the German state of Hesse. Above it, the 1696 Herkules monument rises 565 metres into the 240-hectare Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2013, where summer water displays cascade 600 metres downhill toward the 1785 Löwenburg castle. The 1779 Fridericianum ranks among Europe's oldest public museums, and documenta, the world's largest contemporary art exhibition, has returned here every five years since 1955. The Brothers Grimm lived in the city from 1829 to 1841. A 1943 bombing raid destroyed ninety percent of the centre, leaving a puzzle for any visitor walking its rebuilt streets.