Celle, Wolfsburg & Stadthagen

 Celle

Between the years 1378 and 1705, Celle was the seat of distant relations of the Welf family, the reigning dynasty in the Duchy of Brunswick-Luneburg.

The Schloss (castle), rebuilt in Renaissance style after 1533\, has a preserved eastern facade with octagonal towers at the corners, gables and bay windows. It is one of the most important early-Renaissance buildings in Germany. The Gothic chapel is worth visiting. It was rebuilt in a Mannerist style to a design by Martin de Vos, who painted 76 of its paintings, including the famous Crucifixion (end of the 16th century).

Celle prides itself on 500 half-timbered houses, with the most interesting ones in picturesque Kalandgasse and Zulnerstrasse. Hoppner Haus, at Poststrasse 8, is richly decorated with reliefs of mythological beasts. Equally interesting is the painted decoration of the Rathaus (town hall), a great example of Weser Renaissance from 1579.

From the Stadtkirche church tower great views unfold. The Baroque Synagoge, beyond the old town, is the only one surviving in northern Germany.

Environs:

The town of Wietze, 11 km (7 miles) west of Celle, has been a centre of petroleum since 1858. The Deutsches Erdölmuseum Wietze provides a very interesting overview on the history of oil extraction.

The neighbouring village of Wienhausen has a Cistercian Kloster (monastery) with a beautiful 13th–14th century church. Worth seeing are its Gothic frescoes, the presbytery vaults and the 14th- and 15th-century tapestries.

 Wolfsburg

During the 1930s, this small village began to develop into a sizeable town, based around the Volkswagen car works. Production of the “people’s car” was conceived by Hitler – every German was to be able to afford this inexpensive car, designed by Ferdinand Porsche. The model reached its peak during the post-war economic boom years. The Volkswagenwerk factory is open to visitors.

Wolfsburg also has some outstanding examples of modern architecture: a cultural centre designed by Alvara Aalto, a city theatre designed by Hans Scharoun and a planetarium.

 Stadthagen

The counts of Schaumburg-Lippe used the Renaissance Schloss (castle) as their private residence. Apart from this and the town hall, the main attraction is the church of St Martini, with an early Baroque mausoleum, and a masterful bronze monument by Adrian de Vries, court artist to Rudolf II in Prague.

Environs

A gem of Romanesque architecture can be found at Idensen near Wunsdorf, 22 km (14 miles) from Stadthagen. The church interior (1120) is entirely painted with scenes from the Old and New Testaments, and there is a vast Byzantine-style image of Christ’s Enthronement on a vaulted ceiling.