The Palace Park

The popular meeting place for locals and visitors to Celle

The earliest history of the Palace Park begins in the late 18th Century, as until then, the original fortifications had remained untouched and intact.

Demolition began on the western bastions in 1784 and continued until 1827. Most of the material was used to fill in the very wide, earlier moat. This was reduced to an average width of around 6.7m and a new area created between the moat and the Palace. This was planted with trees and used as a circular promenade with an avenue of poplars.

When the decision was taken in 1839 to prepare the Celle Palace for the Hanoverian royal family, the land on the other side of the moat were taken back from the lease or purchased.

The park was considerably extended between 1847 and 1866, under the supervision of Schaumberg, the notable Hanoverian Garden Inspector. The areas directly in front of the Higher Appeal Court, today's Higher Regional Court, were integrated into the original parkland area.

In 1868 the Palace complex came under the administration and functional supervision of the Royal Prussian Court Garden Administration in Potsdam. In principle, the main features of the system have been preserved to this day. Sections of the western side of the park were donated as building plots in 1899 and in 1922, a memorial to those who fallen in World War 1 was erected on the central lawn in front of the east side of the Palace.  The memorial was eventually relocated in 1999 into Celle’s town park.

In 1936 a strip of land was lost due to the necessary widening of Mühlenstrasse on the north of the grounds.
 
Today the Palace park is a popular meeting point not only for the locals of Celle but also for the numerous tourists who either start their guided city tour from here, or as a place to relax after some local retail therapy!