Celle

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For other uses, see Celle (disambiguation).

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Celle is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district (Landkreis) of Celle. The town is located in the southernmost part of the Lüneburg Heath (Lüneburger Heide) on the banks of the Aller river, a tributary of the Weser.

Image:Schlosscelle.jpg Celle includes 17 sections, some of which were previously independent villages: Altencelle, Altenhagen, Blumlage/Altstadt, Bostel, Boye, Garssen, Gross Hehlen, Hehlentor, Hustedt, Klein Hehlen, Lachtehausen, Neuenhaeusen, Neustadt/Heese, Scheuen, Vorwerk, Westercelle, and Wietzenbruch.

Celle was first mentioned in a document of A.D. 986 as Kellu ("settlement on the river") and had the right to mint and circulate its own coins (Münzrecht ["minting privileges"]) during the 11th century. In 1292 Duke Otto II the Strict (1266–1330), a Welf who ruled the Principality of Lüneburg from 1277 to 1330, granted Celle its town privileges. In 1378 Celle became the residence of dukes of Saxony-Wittenberg and in 1433, the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg. The ducal palace was situated on a triangle between the Aller river and its tributary, the Fuhse. A moat connecting the rivers was built in 1433, turning the town center into an island. In 1705 the last duke of the Brunswick-Lüneburg line died, and Celle, along with the Principality of Lüneburg, passed back to the Hanover line of the Welfs.

Image:Celle4.jpg The buildings in Celle's old town center date back to the 16th century, among them numerous (and some 480 restored) half-timber houses, making Celle an important city for tourism in the southern Lüneburg Heath region. The most impressive building is the ducal palace, Schloss Celle, which was built in 1530 at the site of the former castle. Another major attraction is the Stadtkirche (town church, 1308) with its white tower, from where the city trumpeter blows a fanfare twice a day (an old tradition that was revived as a tourist attraction). Celle has a synagogue built in 1740, one of the few synagogues that survived the Nazi pogrom night of 1938 because it was located next to an important leather factory that would have been collaterally damaged.Image:Cellestreets.jpg Image:Weser watershed 3.png

Celle is also known for the Bomann Museum, a museum of regional history and modern art; and for being an entry point for tourists to the Lüneburg Heath.

The Albrecht-Thaer-Schule, a school in Celle, was founded by Albrecht Daniel Thaer in 1796.

Celle's railroad infrastructure was bombed by the Allies on April 8, 1945. During the raid, concentration camp prisoners managed to escape into the surrounding woods from their transport, which was parked nearby. SS guards and numerous local citizens set out to hunt down the escapees in what became known as the Hasenjagd ("bunny chase") and resulted in thousands of deaths, finally ending on April 10.

Since January 17, 1990, Celle has been a twin town of Sumy, Ukraine. Celle also has city partnerships with:

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