Hotel Hessenland, exterior view, Kassel, 2022, Photo: Nicolas Wefers
Hotel Hessenland, interior view, Kassel, 2022, Photo: Nicolas Wefers
The Hotel Hessenland was designed by Paul Bode, the brother of documenta’s founder, Arnold Bode, for a bombed-out lot destroyed in the war next to the Hugenottenhaus in Kassel’s city center. An unadorned green façade conceals the 1950s architecture of the listed building. Its elegant lobby features a spiral staircase, and the ballroom, which has not been used since the 1990s, held around eight hundred people in its heyday.
The hotel (including a room with the original 1950s furniture) stood vacant for about a year until documenta fifteen brought it back to life. During the exhibition, it is a guesthouse for artists. The ballroom is an exhibition venue showing MADEYOULOOK—an interdisciplinary artists’ collaboration from Johannesburg, South Africa. With their works they seek to provide decolonial perspectives on land, and are presenting a floor installation of around 100 square meters based on texts and images, as well as a sound installation.
Opening Hours
Daily from 10 am to 8 pm
Directions
Obere Königsstraße 2, 34117 Kassel
Accessibility
Access:
The building is only partially wheelchair accessible. The entrance area on the first floor is at ground level, except for a step leading down to the bar and reception. This area can be reached through the ballroom. The 1st floor is not wheelchair accessible; the elevator is too small for wheelchair use.
Toilets:
No barrier-free bathrooms are available.
Parking:
You can find a detailed map of the city of Kassel here (in German language). Selection in the topic layer “Themen-Layer”: Verkehr & Mobilität + Behindertenparkplätze
lumbung members & artists
in this venue