The Caroline Mathilde Memorial

A Danish Queen in Exile in Celle

In memory of Queen Caroline Mathilde of Denmark, who died in Celle, the Lüneburg Knighthood and Estates had a memorial erected in 1784, not far from the ‘Little Palace’ in the French Garden. It was designed by the famous sculptor and painter Adam Friedrich Oeser, who was the director of the Drawing, Painting and Architecture Academy in Leipzig.

The monument is an allegorical portrayal in honour of Queen Caroline. An urn, adorned with the portrait of the Queen, stands on a round base. It shows the image of a woman resting on clouds crowning the vessel with a laurel wreath and palm branches, symbols of virtue and glory. They represent the Queen's innocence of the aspersions brought against her. The mother with her children symbolises the love of the Hanoverian people for the Queen exiled to Celle.

The memorial bears the following inscription:

CAROL(ina) MATH(ildis) DAN(iae) ET NORWEG(iae) REG(ina) NAT(a) D(ies) XXII. JUL. MDCCLI, DEN(ata) D(ies) X. MAI MDCCLXXV.

O(rdo) E(questris) L(uneburgensis) P(oni) C(uravit).

(Caroline Mathilde, Queen of Denmark and Norway, born on 22nd July,1751, died on 10th May,1775.  This memorial was erected by the Lüneburg Knighthood and Estates)