best season
Discover Celle’s sites of interest on this circular walk through the Historical Old Town.
With its most densely assembled collection of historical, half-timbered buildings to be found anywhere in the world, a picturesque Guelph Palace, its palace theatre, as well as both classic and very modern museums, Celle is undoubtedly the highlight of every trip to the Lüneburg Heath.
You’ll be surprised by the further features Celle has to offer, from Bauhaus architecture, to spectacular artistic light installations and impressed by Celle as a shopping destination, with its many varied shops, restaurants and accommodation possibilities in this delightful town of easy short distances - to suit the young and old.
Your tour begins at the Ducal Palace. The foundation walls are from 1292. It's worth paying a visit here to the Residenz Museum, where you can see the Palace kitchen and chapel, as well as the state apartments. This is also where the Celle Palace Theatre is located.
Directly opposite is the Bomann Museum and the Celle Museum of Art, featuring the Robert Simon Collection. The Bomann Museum is the place to explore the art of rural and urban cultural history. In the nearby Museum of Art, by day you can lose yourself in the superb collections displayed throughout its many rooms and at night, admire the spectacular light art installations that illuminate the building from the outside – this is the first 24-hour art museum in the world. Follow the street on the left and you will come directly to the Higher Regional Court building.
Turn right into Kanzleistraße and immediately right again into Kalandgasse – an enchanting street where the former Latin school stands. Eventually, you will reach the Stechbahn, the former tournament area of Celle. On the left is St. Mary’s town church and you now find yourself directly adjacent to the old town hall. On the ground floor is the service and information centre, where you can obtain maps and other general information about Celle.
On the corner of the Zöllnerstrasse, where the building meets the Poststrasse is the Celle Glockenspiel. You can hear the chimes ring daily at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m. Now follow the Zöllnerstraße to the end or you can make a detour through the ‘Schuhstraße’, which runs parallel as both lead to the street ‘Am Heiligen Kreuz’, where you will find the oldest dated house in Celle at number 26. As you continue to follow the road, you will reach a small square called ‘Kleinen Plan‘. A remnant of the inner supporting wall of the original town boundary wall still stands here. You will also find the Garrison Museum here.
Follow Mauernstrasse to the end and you will arrive directly at the Hoppener Haus - probably the most magnificent half-timbered house in Celle. Directly beside it are the "Talking Lanterns" which tell exciting and funny stories every day (please note, these are only in German).
If you follow Poststrasse on the left, you will come to the square called ‘Großen Plan’. The so-called Stechinelli House is located here. This is where Westcellertorstrasse begins and where the Old Stable Building is located - the original Ducal stables.
Here you branch off to the left. The street leads you directly to the French Garden. Directly behind the pedestrian bridge, a small path leads to the right into Magnusstrasse. Here you will find the ‘Director’s Villa’ the Bauhaus building built by Otto Haesler. If you are interested in churches, it is worth making a detour to the St. Ludwig Church. It is the main Catholic church in Celle and the only classical church building in northern Germany (address: Julius-von-der-Wall-Str. 1).
A small passage in Magnusstraße takes you back to the French Garden. You can go for a wonderful walk here or simply stop a while and take a break. Walk through the long avenue, past the Bee Institute and the Caroline Mathilde monument. At the end you will come to Wehlstrasse, which you follow to the left. At the nearby ‘Im Kreise’ street, at no. 23-24 is the Celle Synagogue, the oldest surviving Jewish place of worship in Lower Saxony.
Your tour ends here. Walk back across the ‚Kleinen Plan‘ and you will once more be in the heart of the Historical Old Town.