Celle

Celle (German pronunciation: [ˈtsɛlə] ^ⓘ) is a town and capital of the district of Celle in Lower Saxony, in north-central Germany. The town is situated on the banks of the river Aller, a tributary of the Weser, and has a population of about 71,000. Celle is the southern gateway to the Lüneburg Heath, has a castle (Schloss Celle) built in the Renaissance and Baroque styles and a picturesque old town centre (the Altstadt) with more than 400 timber-framed houses, making Celle one of the most remarkable members of the German Timber-Frame Road. From 1378 to 1705 Celle was the official residence of the Lüneburg branch of the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg (House of Welf), who had been banished from their original ducal seat by its townsfolk.

The town of Celle lies in the glacial valley of the Aller, about 40 kilometres (25 mi) northeast of Hanover, 60 kilometres (37 mi) northwest of Brunswick and 120 kilometres (75 mi) south of Hamburg. With 71,000 inhabitants it is, next to Lüneburg, the largest Lower Saxon town between Hanover and Hamburg.

The town covers an area of 176.05 square kilometres (67.97 sq mi). Flowing from the northeast, the Lachte discharges into the Aller within the town, as does the Fuhse flowing from the southeast. The Aller heads westwards towards Verden an der Aller, where it joins the Weser.

Celle's annual precipitation is 692 millimetres (27.2 in), which puts it in the middle third of locations in Germany. 39% of the Deutscher Wetterdienst's weather stations record lower values. The wettest month is August, which has 1.5 times the amount of precipitation as February, the driest month. Monthly precipitation varies only slightly and is very evenly spread throughout the year. Only 1% of German weather stations show a lower annual variation.

The Celle weather station has recorded the following extreme values:

The town of Celle has the following 17 boroughs or Stadtteile, some of which were previously independent villages (population as at 1 January 2005): Altencelle (4,998), Altenhagen (922), Blumlage/Altstadt (8,526), Bostel (455), Boye (832), Garßen (2,978), Groß Hehlen (2,773), Hehlentor (7,974), Hustedt (736), Klein Hehlen (5,782), Lachtehausen (639), Neuenhäusen (8,082), Neustadt/Heese (10,887), Scheuen (1,165), Vorwerk (2,842), Westercelle (7,183) and Wietzenbruch (4,805).

Celle was first mentioned in a document of A.D. 985 as Kiellu (which means Fischbucht or fishing bay). It was granted the right to mint and circulate its own coins under the minting rights during the 11th century and several coins were found in the Sandur hoard in the Faroes. In 1292 Duke Otto II the Strict (1277–1330), a Welf who ruled the Principality of Lüneburg from 1277 to 1330, left Altencelle, where there had been defences in the form of a circular rampart (the Ringwall von Burg) since the 10th century, and founded a rectangular settlement by the existing castle (Burg) 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) to the northwest. In 1301 he granted Celle its town privileges and in 1308 started construction on the town church.

In 1378 Celle became the Residenz of the dukes of Saxe-Wittenberg and in 1433 the princes of Lüneburg took up residence in the castle (Schloss). The ducal palace was situated on a triangle between the Aller and its tributary, the Fuhse. A moat connecting the rivers was built in 1433, turning the town centre into an island. In 1452 Duke Frederick the Pious of Lüneburg founded a Franciscan monastery. In 1464 the grain shipping monopoly generated an economic upturn for the town.