'''Celle''' is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany.

Get in

Celle is an easy half-hour from Hanover. Trains run about every thirty minutes. The Deutche Bahn station is about a fifteen-minute drive or five-minute taxi West of the Altstadt.

Get around

Celle's historic Altstadt is easy walking. When you get tired, take a cheap and frequent bus.

See

Celle is not crammed full of one-on-a-planet sites. Rather, it's well-preserved old center, full of cobblestoned streets and half-timbered storefronts, has most of the features of a Rothenburg, without the cheesy tourist shops.

Celle is a real, working, modern German town, that just happens to be chock-a-block full of old charm; preserved, but not moth-balled.

Having noted that, there are a few thing to check out.

  • Ducal Palace. The Ducal Palace dates from the 13th century. What started as a castle was gradually expanded and modified into a mixture of Baroque and Renaissance architecture
  • Altstadt. The old middle aged downtown has a large pedestrian-only zone that wends through a great variety of modern businesses. Stop for dinner, drink a bier, buy a watch; mostly just stroll
  • Celle Hasenjagd. Once you've marvelled at the town's old fort being converted to a tranquil palace and noted how well the Germans mix old and new, stop outside the train station and gaze at the switching yard. Here, in 1945, allied bomber struck the railyard as a target of opportunity. Among the trains waiting in the yard was one filled with concentration camp workers. Many prisoners were killed in the raid. Many more took the opportunity to flee for their lives. Over the next several days, the SS guards and local townspeople scoured the town and neighboring woods, hunting down the escapees. Many of the "rabbit hunters", were tried and convicted for this war crime. Several were hanged.
  • Do

    Buy

    Eat

    Drink

    Sleep

    Get out