Celle

Celle's old town holds around four hundred and eighty timber-framed buildings, the oldest from 1526, in a dense grid that survived the Second World War essentially intact while nearby cities were destroyed. The ducal palace, begun as a castle and rebuilt in Renaissance and baroque phases, contains a court theatre of 1674 that is among the oldest in Germany still in regular use. The town was the residence of the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg, and later of Caroline Mathilde, a Danish queen exiled here in 1772, whose grave is in the town church. The French garden and the Bomann Museum complete the centre.

Background

Celle stands on the Aller, a tributary of the Weser, in the river's glacial valley, about 40 kilometres northeast of Hanover and 120 kilometres south of Hamburg. With about 71,000 residents, it is, along with Lüneburg, the largest Lower Saxon town between those two cities. The town marks the southern gateway to the Lüneburg Heath and belongs to the German Timber-Frame Road. The Lüneburg branch of the House of Welf kept its residence here from 1378 to 1705, after the townsfolk of their original ducal seat had banished them. Annual precipitation is 692 mm, and the local record temperatures are 37.5 °C on 9 August 1992 and -26.8 °C on 27 January 1942.

Source: Wikipedia, "Celle"

The main sights

• The timber town - around 480 framed houses, the oldest from 1526.
• The court theatre - a 1674 baroque theatre still staging performances.
• The ducal palace - Renaissance and baroque phases around a castle core.
• The Caroline Mathilde grave - the exiled Danish queen buried in the town church.

When to go

April to October; the theatre runs a season through winter. Museums close Mondays. The old town is compact and walkable in a few hours.

Things to know

The palace is shown on guided tours only. Theatre tickets require booking. The town is quiet and has limited evening life.

Nearby

Lüneburg Heath lies north; Hanover is southwest.

Key facts