Tom`s travels: Celle & Uelzen (20/01/2018)

After flying back to Hamburg, we decided to do another day trip during the weekend and opted to visit the towns of Celle and Uelzen with the train. After taking the regional in the direction of Hannover we reached Celle's station and got off to explore the city on foot. The weather was quite cold and a layer of frost had covered the ground. We walked through a public garden and then reached the Schloss Celle, a castle/palace built during the 16th century in the Renaissance style. It is surrounded by a nice park which we walked before entering the castle proper. Unfortunately, as my luck usually goes, the main facade was completely covered in scaffoldings and that meant evading that part when taking pictures. After paying the entry ticket we toured the building which included Baroque rooms filled with paintings and objects relating to the area's history. We toured most of the rooms but could not, unfortunately, see the chapel and theatre which were only visitable through a guided tour. I was a bit disappointed not to see the renaissance chapel especially after a room virtually showed the splendor of it. After the visit to the palace, we then crossed the park and entered the old town proper passing by the building holding the Bonnman Museum. A little further we reached the Markt, the city's main square with the church of St Mary at its center and some beautiful half-timbered houses around its perimeter. The town is, in fact, a member of the German Timber-Frame Road, and with its nearly 400 such houses one of its most remarkable examples. We entered the church and explored its interior, originally built in the gothic style during the 14th century it now presents a Baroque style from the late 17th century. Particularly noteworthy were the baroque organ and the gilded altar from 1613. After the visit to the church, we passed by the old town hall located on the eastern end of the square and featuring a baroque facade. We then continued on through the pretty old town streets admiring the beautiful multicolored facades of the timber-framed houses. After giving a nice round of the city center we then walked back through the castle's park and reached once again the station from where we took a train to the next town, Uelzen. A famous train hub the station was in fact redesigned by the Austrian born, New Zealand artists Friedensreich Hundertwasser with beautiful mosaics and red brick. After exiting the station we headed towards the city center and reached the main church, St Mary. Built around the 14th century it features a gothic structure with a large central bell tower jutting out among the low roofs surrounding it. Unfortunately, as we tried to enter we found all doors locked, so we decided to walk further. We passed through a nice street featuring some timber-framed houses here and there but realized that the town was rather empty and cold. After touring the small old town we then decided to head back to the station from where we finally took a ride headed back to Hamburg.