A balancing act between monument preservation and home comfort

Mulang Village - A China-inspired jewel in Kassel (Part 2)

Mulang is a time capsule, and the ornamental village provides insight into the lives of the Landgraves of Kassel. The buildings scattered on the hillside make it easy to imagine how their occupants lived and worked there for their masters. Nevertheless, much of it is no longer as it once was. On the side opposite the park, the houses of the city of Kassel have crept ever closer to the village of Mulang, and an asphalt road runs through the village. Mulang was built as a place to live, and by being so close to the city today, it still is. The houses may resemble an open-air museum from the outside, and are a glimpse into Kassel's history, but on the inside, everyday life takes place - they are predominantly rented out as living space. Some of Kassel’s residents live and go about their work here, maintaining the gardens and enjoying the historical uniqueness that surrounds them. A quick look up and down Mulangstraße (Mulang Street) reveals this normality: cars roll by, residents’ names are written on signs on their front doors, lights glow in the windows, and there’s barbecuing going on in gardens. Nevertheless, if you consider the history of the village, it is a special sort of everyday life. Mulang is a place where the landgraves settled people for their own entertainment. And the village’s backdrop is still anything but ordinary. Löwenburg Castle, Wilhelmshöhe Palace, the park with its lake (some of which were only added later to the ensemble of Wilhelmshöhe Mountain Park) are always present in the background. What unites all of them is that their maintenance is now the job of the staff of the Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel - employees such as Tim Schrader, who’s able to explain on a guided tour what work is currently being done on the houses in the village of Mulang. Because even though Mulang Village is old, it’s never finished. There is always something to do.

Previous article in the series:
Mulang Village - A China-inspired jewel in Kassel (Part 1)

Next article in the series:
Mulang Village - A China-inspired jewel in Kassel (Part 3)