Celle: St. Marien Town Church with ducal crypt and steeple bugler
Celle
St. Marienkirche town church in Celle stands prominently at the Stechbahn near the market, surrounded by historic timber-framed houses.
It
is a special church, because to this day it is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
of Queen Caroline Mathilde of Denmark and the Dukes of Celle.
The
construction of the three-aisled Gothic hall church coincides with the time the
city was founded. It was consecrated by the Bishop of Hildesheim as St. Mary's
Church in 1308.
The building was fitted with a barrel vault and baroque features between 1676 and 1698.
Particularly
worth seeing are the altar from 1613, the grave monuments of the Guelph dukes
(16th / 17th century) in the choir, the emporium paintings (17th century) and
the baroque organ reconstructed in 1999 on the basis of the original plans of
1687.
Steeple
trumpeter
Every
working day at 4:45 pm and Saturday / Sunday at 9:45 am and 4:45 pm, the steeple
trumpeter climbs the almost 75-metre-tall tower of St. Marien Church and plays
a chorale in all four directions with his trumpet .
The
ducal crypt in the city church
The
Danish Queen Caroline Mathilde is still buried in her ceremonial coffin alongside
the dukes of Celle in the ducal tomb under the church. The tomb was created in
1576 by the Dukes of Brunswick-Lueneburg
Guided
tours of the crypt are only possible on Wednesday and Thursday at 16:00 h.
