Heidekreis ("Heath district") is a

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

(''Landkreis'') in

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Harburg,

Lüneburg Lüneburg, officially the Hanseatic City of Lüneburg and also known in English as Lunenburg, is a town in the German Bundesland (Germany), state of Lower Saxony. It is located about southeast of another Hanseatic League, Hanseatic city, Hambur ...

Uelzen Uelzen (; ), officially the Hanseatic City of Uelzen (), is a town in northeast Lower Saxony, Germany, and capital of the district of Uelzen. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, a Hanseatic town and an independent municipality. Uelz ...

Celle Celle () is a town and capital of the district of Celle (district), Celle in Lower Saxony, in north-central Germany. The town is situated on the banks of the river Aller (Germany), Aller, a tributary of the Weser, and has a population of about ...

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

, Nienburg, Verden and Rotenburg. Wilseder Berg 006

History

Historically the region belonged to the

Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg The Duchy of Brunswick and Lüneburg (), commonly known as the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg or Brunswick-Lüneburg, was an imperial principality of the Holy Roman Empire in the territory of present day Lower Saxony. In 1235, Otto I, Duke of ...

and its

successor state Succession of states is a concept in international relations regarding a successor state that has become a sovereign state over a territory (and populace) that was previously under the sovereignty of another state. The theory has its roots in 19th ...

s. The district was established in 1977 by merging the former districts of Soltau and Fallingbostel as Soltau-Fallingbostel (). On 1 August 2011 it was renamed to Heidekreis.

Geography

The district includes the western half of the

Lüneburg Heath Lüneburg Heath (, ) is a large area of heath (habitat), heath, geest, and woodland in the northeastern part of the state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany. It forms part of the hinterland for the cities of Hamburg, Hanover and Bremen and is ...

(''Lüneburger Heide''). Since this landscape is so characteristic for the district, it calls itself "the Heath District". The capital is

Bad Fallingbostel Bad Fallingbostel (Northern Low Saxon: ''Bad Fambossel'') is the district town (''Kreisstadt'') of the Heidekreis district in the German state of Lower Saxony. Since 1976 the town has had a state-recognised Kneipp spa and has held the title of ...

, although it has only 11,800 inhabitants and is only the fifth-largest town in the district.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms displays: * in the upper half the

heraldic Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branc ...

lion of the

* in the lower half a

megalith A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. More than 35,000 megalithic structures have been identified across Europe, ranging geographically f ...

ic grave

Towns and municipalities

Culture and places of interest

Cultural matters are looked after by those charged with communal cultural support within the towns and municipalities, the parishes, the banks, the Lüneburg Regional Association and private cultural initiatives.

Museums and collections

* Dat ole Hus (heath and open-air museum in Wilsede) *

German Tank Museum The German Tank Museum ()''Deutsches Panzermuseum Munster''
at www.deutsches ...

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

(German military history of the 20th century) * Düshorn Village Museum (life and work around 100 years ago) * Hof der Heidmark in

(memorial to the Heidmark) * Klingendes Museum (mechanical musical instruments) in

Schwarmstedt Schwarmstedt is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the Heidekreis in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated near the confluence of the rivers Aller (Germany), Aller and Leine, approx. 20 km south of Bad Fallingbostel, and 30 km e ...

* Museum of the Archaeological Working Group in Bad Fallingbostel * Soltau Museum (local history and archaeological exhibition) in

Soltau Soltau () is a mid-sized town in the Lüneburg Heath in the district of Heidekreis, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It has around 22,000 inhabitants. The city is centrally located in the Lüneburg Heath and is known nationwide especially for its touri ...

* Soltau Toy Museum (toys from four centuries) * Peetshof (Zeugen Wietzendorfs um 1900) in

Wietzendorf Wietzendorf ( Eastphalian: ''Witzendörp'') is a municipality in the district of Heidekreis, in Lower Saxony, in northern Germany. It is situated approximately 14 km southeast of Soltau, and 50 km southwest of Lüneburg. The population as ...

* Prussian History (Pavillon im Landschaftspark Iserhatsche) in

Bispingen Bispingen is a municipality in the Heidekreis district of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is a popular tourist destination with several holiday/theme parks. Its territory also includes the nature preserve of the Lüneburg Heath around the Wilseder B ...

* Pult- und Federkielmuseum (Schulmuseum in Insel) in Schneverdingen *

Rischmannshof Heath Museum The Rischmannshof Heath Museum (German: ''Heidemuseum Rischmannshof'') is an open-air museum in Walsrode, Germany. History Rischmannshof was opened in 1912 as one of the first open-air museums in Germany. The museum consists of a rural farmy ...

(heath and open-air museum) in

Walsrode Walsrode (; ) is a town in the district of Heidekreis, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The former municipality Bomlitz was merged into Walsrode in January 2020. History Middle Ages 986 Foundation of Walsrode Abbey by Count Walo. The first recorded ...

* Schäferhof Neuenkirchen (Moorland sheep rearing to preserve the heath and moorlands between Neuenkirchen and Soltau) in Neuenkirchen * Heimathaus auf dem Schroershof (historic farmstead with many buildings) in Neuenkirchen * Art Society and Springhornhof Foundation in Neuenkirchen * Bothmer School Museum (schools in the times of the Emperor) in Schwarmstedt * Ehrhorn Woodland Museum (woods – heathland – people) in Schneverdingen

Cinemas

* Munster: Deutsches Haus * * Walsrode: Capitol-Theater

Lüneburg Regional Association

The district is a member of the Lüneburg Regional Association (''Lüneburgischer Landschaftsverband''), which looks after regional, cultural-political tasks.

Nature reserves

There are 29

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

s in the Heidekreis. The largest one (

Lüneburg Heath Nature Reserve The Lüneburg Heath Nature Reserve (German: ''Naturschutzgebiet Lüneburger Heide'') is one of the oldest and largest nature reserves (''Naturschutzgebiete'' or ''NSG''s) in Germany, and the oldest and largest in Lower Saxony. It was first establ ...

) has an area of 13,222 ha in the territory of the Heidekreis, the smallest (Söhlbruch) has an area of 8 ha.

Jewish cemeteries

There are four

Jewish cemeteries A Jewish cemetery ( ''beit almin'' or ''beit kvarot'') is a cemetery where Jews are buried in keeping with Jewish tradition. Cemeteries are referred to in several different ways in Hebrew, including ''beit kevarot'' (house of sepulcher ...

in Soltau-Fallingbostel : in

Ahlden Ahlden is a municipality in the Heidekreis district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Aller, approx. 15 km southwest of Bad Fallingbostel, and 30 km southeast of Verden. Ahlden is located in the Samtgemeinde ("coll ...

Rethem Rethem () is a town in the Heidekreis in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Aller, approx. 25 km southwest of Bad Fallingbostel, and 18 km southeast of Verden. The town was the scene of heavy fighting over the period ...

und

.LANDKREIS SOLTAU-FALLINGBOSTEL. In: Jüdische Friedhöfe nach der heutigen Verwaltungsgliederung – Niedersachsen. In: Übersicht über alle Projekte zur Dokumentation jüdischer Grabinschriften auf dem Gebiet der Bundesrepublik Deutschland
/ref> There are protected cultural monuments – stone witnesses to former

Jewish communities Jewish ethnic divisions refer to many distinctive communities within the world's Jewish population. Although "Jewish" is considered an ethnicity itself, there are distinct ethnic subdivisions among Jews, most of which are primarily the result o ...

and a thriving Jewish parish live into the 1930s. The cemeteries are mainly on the edge of parishes.

References

External links

Official website
(German) {{Authority control Districts of Lower Saxony