The community of culturable cellulolytic bacteria was analyzed in two long-term experimental field sites on Albic Luvisol (silty sand) and Haplic Phaeozem (loam), with and without farmyard manure treatment. Against the backdrop of significant differences in soil properties, the bacterial community structure differed clearly between sites and was affected by manure application as analyzed by T-RFLP of 16S rDNA. The population densities of cellulolytic bacteria were significantly increased by manure application in Phaeozem. Cellulose decomposing potentials of 537 isolates were tested on soluble, colloidal, and crystalline cellulose. The results showed some evidence of a greater proportion of isolates with high decomposition activity in Luvisol, but no impact from manure application could be observed in both soils. Restriction analysis and sequencing of 16S rDNA of isolates revealed a rather simple community composition that was dominated by Streptomyces (67%). The composition of the RFLP groups was affected by manure application, which was most evident in Luvisol, whereas an effect of the soil type could not be found. Although abundant RFLP groups were assigned to phylogenetically different bacterial classes (Actinobacteria, Betaproteobacteria, and Gammaproteobacteria), cellulolytic activity could not consistently be differentiated. All in all, cellulolytic capabilities of the isolates were highly variable and did not map to phylogenetic affiliation.