Water Features in the Bergpark

For over 300 years, the water games have functioned according to the same principle. Only by exploiting physical laws and without the use of pumps do the masses of water flow from the foot of the Hercules to the palace pond. The elemental force of water is masterfully expressed through a planned staging. The Landgraves of Hesse Kassel used this spectacle to underline their absolutist claims to power. 

The water gushes over the cascades, the Steinhöfer Waterfall, the Devil's Bridge and falls over the aqueduct and the Peneus Cascades down to the Palace Pond. Here the water pressure causes the "Great Fountain" to shoot up more than 50 metres. This spectacle is the conclusion and climax of the water spectacles.

Each water spectacle is staged for about 10 minutes. The end is at around 4 pm. If you follow the water from Hercules to Wilhelmshöhe Palace,  you will cover a distance of about 2.3 km. 

The fascination of the Water Games is due to the fact that the staging still works today just as it did in the time of the landgraves and electors. 750 m³ of water pass through all the stations at every performance through natural pressure alone.