Henschel Tiger Tank Factory — Kassel

Kassel, DE

The **Henschel & Sohn** works in Kassel were one of Germany's largest industrial complexes, responsible for manufacturing locomotives, military vehicles, and — most significantly for the war's history — the **Tiger I** (Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausf. E) heavy tank. Henschel won the competitive contract in 1942 against Porsche's rival design, and the Kassel factories produced the majority of the approximately 1,347 Tiger I tanks built during the war. Henschel also produced the **Tiger II** (König Tiger / Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausf. B), beginning in early 1944. The factory complex was a primary target for RAF Bomber Command during the October 1943 raid that devastated Kassel, though production continued in dispersed facilities and underground workshops. By 1945 Tiger production had effectively ceased due to Allied bombing, fuel shortages, and the collapse of the German rail network — the same railway junction that made Kassel a strategic target also carried the steel and components that the factories needed. The site of the former Henschel works is now largely redeveloped. A small number of plaques and museum references acknowledge the factory's role in both industrial history and wartime production.