The track is tough, but the 100-year-old Mercedes 6/40/65 hp will master it.
Image: Thomas Geiger
The best racing cars in the world used to compete on the Wilhelmshöhe in Kassel, old Jaguars, Daimler, Bugatti, Opel, Tatra and BMW. At the end of April, some dare to climb the summit again.
An early summer morning, the road below freshly paved and freshly graveled above, tens of thousands of spectators on the Wilhelmshöhe. The racing elite met in Kassel this weekend of all places: horsepower legends such as Rudolf Caracciola, Karl Kappler, Adolf Rosenberger and Carl Jörns lined up to crown their champion in the first Hercules hillclimb on winding kilometers.
That was exactly 100 years ago, and to celebrate the premiere, more than 50 vintage cars on two or four wheels will take to the track again on the last weekend in April in Kassel. For three days, old Jaguars, Daimler, Bugatti, Opel, Tatra and BMW race there, where otherwise walkers stroll through the World Heritage Site and gaze devoutly at the 8.30 meter high statue that crowns the baroque park on an almost 30 meter high stone pyramid towards the summit