Soltau () is a mid-sized town in the

Lüneburg Heath Lüneburg Heath (german: Lüneburger Heide) is a large area of 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 a ...

in the district of

Heidekreis Heidekreis ("Heath district") is a district (''Landkreis'') in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Harburg, Lüneburg, Uelzen, Celle, Hanover, Nienburg, Verden and Rotenburg. History Hist ...

, in

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. It has around 22,000 inhabitants. The city is centrally located in the

and is known nationwide especially for its

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism ...

attractions like the Heide-Park and the Soltau-Therme.

Etymology

The name Soltau comes from ''Solt'' (salt) and ''au'' (meadow).

Geography

Location

Soltau lies between

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie H ...

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

and

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

in the

on the river Böhme.

Subdivisions

The municipality of Soltau has 16 '' Stadtteile'' (population in brackets as at 1 July 2003): # Ahlften (513) # Brock (158) # Deimern (198) # Dittmern (783) # Harber (1,291) # Hötzingen (332) # Leitzingen (62) # Marbostel (112) # Meinern (320) # Mittelstendorf (160) # Moide (39) # Oeningen (149) # Tetendorf (202) # Wiedingen (142) # Woltem (307) #

Wolterdingen Wolterdingen is a village near Donaueschingen in the southern Black Forest of the Baden-Württemberg States of Germany, federal state in Germany, the site of a post World War II British sector displaced person camp. Villages in Baden-Württem ...

(1,012)

Heilig-Geist-Kirche in Wolterdingen (Soltau) IMG 6002

Climate

Klimadiagramm-Soltau-Deutschland-metrisch-deutsch

History

Middle Ages

The region of the

had already been settled by the start of the

New Stone Age The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several par ...

about 4,000 years ago. The Soltau area was initially occupied by a few individual farms. The parish of Soltau was probably founded around 830 and the first wooden church ''Sante Johannis Baptista'' (St. John the Baptist) was built. The first written record of Soltau was in the year 936 as ''Curtis Salta'' ("farm on the salt meadow").

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the ...

Otto the Great Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Große, it, Ottone il Grande), was East Francia, East Frankish king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the olde ...

granted the estate to

Quedlinburg Abbey Quedlinburg Abbey (german: Stift Quedlinburg or ) was a house of secular canonesses ''(Frauenstift)'' in Quedlinburg in what is now Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was founded in 936 on the initiative of Saint Mathilda, the widow of the East Fran ...

. Within a span of almost 600 years the village of ''Soltouwe'' emerged from ''Curtis Salta''. It was located in the area between St. John's Church and the Waldmühle mill. In 1304 the ''

Vogt During the Middle Ages, an (sometimes given as modern English: advocate; German: ; French: ) was an office-holder who was legally delegated to perform some of the secular responsibilities of a major feudal lord, or for an institution such as ...

ei'' of Soltau was sold to the cathedral chapter of

Verden Verden can refer to: * Verden an der Aller, a town in Lower Saxony, Germany * Verden, Oklahoma, a small town in the USA * Verden (district), a district in Lower Saxony, Germany * Diocese of Verden (768–1648), a former diocese of the Catholic Chur ...

. Between 1383 and 1388 the village was established by order of the duke as protection against robber barons at the confluence of the rivers Böhme and Soltau near Hagen and Burg, which today is in the town centre. Subsequently, it was decided to demolish the castle there as part of the peace treaty at the end of the Lüneburg War of Succession; at the same time Soltau was given

town rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the traditio ...

on 15 July 1388 by way of compensation. In 1400 the

letters patent Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, t ...

for the

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...

was issued, which entitled the town to trade. In 1440 another letters patent was specifically conferred on

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

tailor A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century. History Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...

s, cobblers, linen and cloth-makers. The consequences of the war of succession in Soltau can clearly be traced and prevented the rapid growth of the new town; conditions were miserable and many farms were ruined. Moreover, Soltau was a long way from the centres of power, so did not receive much direct support and there were no local lords who felt an association with it. In 1479 Soltau became part of the

Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg The Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg (german: Herzogtum Braunschweig und Lüneburg), or more properly the Duchy of Brunswick and Lüneburg, was a historical duchy that existed from the late Middle Ages to the Late Modern era within the Holy Ro ...

and an '' Amtsvogtei'' was established. In 1511 the town was totally destroyed by fire. The last known cavalry battle took place in June 1519 on the 'Wiehe Holt' near Soltau and is known as the Battle of Soltau, which represented the high point of the

Hildesheim Abbey Feud Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of th ...

. According to long tradition it was only thanks to a ruse by the Soltau townsman, Harm Tyding, who pretended to the advancing Brunswick troops that he knew the whereabouts of a large Lüneburg army and led them on a detour, that the town was not destroyed again. The

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and i ...

saw little conflict in Soltau as a result of the firm stand taken by the Lüneburg duke, Ernest I and his commitment to introducing the Protestant-Lutheran faith in 1527.

Modern era

In 1533 the town hall was established in an old chapel in ''Marktstraße'' but it was destroyed in a fire. In 1567 another great fire destroyed large parts of the town. In 1588 the first school building was erected, although the first records of school teaching go back to as early as 1563. The

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

raged in 1626 and the population dwindled dramatically. Before 1620 there were several years of legal disputes about the acquisition of building land outside the town wall. In the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battl ...

Soltau was once again entirely destroyed. All that remained was a great ruin in the landscape and only one building from that time remains. It was a long time before the town recovered from the war's consequences. The traces of the war and the area's occupation by Swedish troops, which began in 1632, is still documented today by the ''Ellinger Grenzstein'' ("Ellingen Boundary Stone").

Market rights A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

and therefore the right to host two fairs a year and a horse market were conferred in 1668. The Old Town Pharmacy (''Alte Stadtapotheke'') was opened in 1796, the first

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties. Chemists carefully describe ...

in Soltau. Soltau first became a garrison town in 1712, a year when the first cloth factory was built.

Napoleonic Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

troops occupied the town in 1803 and turned it into a French border town for the

Kingdom of Westphalia The Kingdom of Westphalia was a kingdom in Germany, with a population of 2.6 million, that existed from 1807 to 1813. It included territory in Hesse and other parts of present-day History of Germany, Germany. While formally independent, it was a ...

in 1810. Soltau belonged to the Canton of Harburg in the Department of Bouches-de-l'Elbe. In 1813 the Lützow infantry and

cossack The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...

s ended ten years of occupation. In 1826 the Old Town Hall (''Altes Rathaus'') was built on ''Poststraße''. In 1873 the first railway through Soltau was opened, the line which linked

and

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

. It was followed in 1901 by the Heath Railway between

and

and, in 1912, the lines of the East Hanoverian Railways to

Celle Celle () is a town and capital of the district of Celle, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town is situated on the banks of the river Aller, a tributary of the Weser, and has a population of about 71,000. Celle is the southern gateway to the Lü ...

and

Lüneburg Lüneburg (officially the ''Hanseatic City of Lüneburg'', German: ''Hansestadt Lüneburg'', , Low German ''Lümborg'', Latin ''Luneburgum'' or ''Lunaburgum'', Old High German ''Luneburc'', Old Saxon ''Hliuni'', Polabian ''Glain''), also calle ...

. In 1885 Soltau became a district town (''Kreisstadt''). In 1896 the gas works was built and, two years later, the gymnasium and shooting hall. On Christmas Eve 1906 a fire destroyed St. John's Church which had been mentioned in the records since 1464. It was then rebuilt and is still standing today. In 1911 the Lutheran Church was consecrated, the second Protestant church to be founded, and in 1915 the Catholic Church of St. Mary's followed. A royal officers' riding school was founded in 1913. Soltau Camp (''Lager Soltau''), the largest German

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military priso ...

of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

was built in 1914. In the same year the mining of potassium salts (''Kalisalz'') began at the Heinrichssegen Shaft; it had to be halted only four years later as a result of the war, after having reached a depth of just six metres. From 1934 several

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previou ...

units were quartered at Wolterdingen Camp (''Lager Wolterdingen'') and after the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

it was used to house refugees and forced labourers until about 1960. In April 1945, the town was partly destroyed by air raids, in which there were many more civilian victims than military ones. Soltau Holocaust-Mahnmal

That same month, prisoners from concentration camps were able to escape from a railway train that had been stopped in Soltau as the result of an Allied air attack. The prisoners were hunted down by members of the

, SS and

Hitler Youth The Hitler Youth (german: Hitlerjugend , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth organisation of the Nazi Party in Germany. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. ...

, with the help of several townsfolk, and 92 of them were shot dead. A few townspeople, by contrast, risked their own lives by providing the escapees with food and clothing. The post-war trials of those who took part ended in acquittals due to the lack of evidence. Consequently, all that could be recorded were several confirmed killings, but not murders.

Post WW-II

In 1949 Soltau became a British garrison during the Cold War and home of Headquarters 7th Armoured Brigade. They were based at the former SS Riding School on the outskirts of town (''Reitschule''). The base was the home of 207 Signal Squadron and 11 Ordnance Company. It was the most northerly posting for any British serviceman in BAOR (

British Army of the Rhine There have been two formations named British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). Both were originally occupation forces in Germany, one after the First World War and the other after the Second World War. Both formations had areas of responsibility locate ...

), excluding minor outposts like Dannenberg, Hamburg and

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland pe ...

, in what was known as

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

. Armoured vehicles were regularly seen on the streets on their way to the military training area at Lüneburg and the HQ was responsible for the nearby Soltau-Lüneburg Training Area and its associated hutted camp at Reinsehlen. The signal squadron had three troops, two of which were armoured, using variants of the FV432 for telecommunication purposes. The soldiers were given the freedom of the town on 18 September 1982, and again after returning from the first Gulf War in 1991. They marched through the town to mark the occasion. The site of the British barracks was the first in Germany to be turned over to private hands in 1993, one year after the withdrawal of British troops. Today the old barracks is a business centre, used for doctors' practices and social institutions. It is also home to the ''Alte Reithalle'' ("Old Riding Hall") Event Centre which has become an important indoor event location after its finished restoration in 2003. In 1972 Soltau became a state-recognised spa and in 1987 was designated as a "state-recognised town with brine cure facilities". In the administrative reforms of 1974 16 surrounding villages were incorporated into the new municipality. In 1977 the districts of Soltau and

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 ...

merged into the district of Soltau-Fallingbostel; Soltau lost its status as the district administrative seat. The Heide Park was opened in 1978; today it is the largest

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

in North Germany. Other tourist attractions include the

Soltau Thermal Baths 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 to ...

, which opened in 1990 and the North German Toy Museum which followed in 1994. In 1988 the ''Showpalast'' ("Show Palace") was founded at the Soltau

secondary modern school A secondary modern school is a type of secondary school that existed throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 1944 until the 1970s under the Tripartite System. Schools of this type continue in Northern Ireland, where they are usuall ...

(''Hauptschule''); it remains Germany's only schoolchildren's cabaret. In 1998 a

retail park A retail park is a type of shopping centre found on the fringes of most large towns and cities in the United Kingdom and other European countries. They form a key aspect of European retail geographies, alongside indoor shopping centres, standalo ...

opened in the Alm industrial estate. From 1996 there were discussions in Soltau about the construction of a

outlet store An outlet store, factory outlet or factory shop is a brick and mortar or online store in which manufacturers sell their stock directly to the public. Traditionally, a factory outlet was a store attached to a factory or warehouse, sometimes allo ...

. The town failed several times in the courts, the last time in 2006 at the

Federal Administrative Court of Germany The Federal Administrative Court (german: Bundesverwaltungsgericht, ) is one of the five federal supreme courts of Germany. It is the court of the last resort for generally all cases of administrative law, mainly disputes between citizens and t ...

. Protests were led by the surrounding towns of Verden,

Rotenburg Rotenburg may refer to: * Rotenburg (district), Lower Saxony, Germany * Rotenburg an der Wümme, capital of the district * Rotenburg an der Fulda, near Kassel in Hesse *Rothenburg ob der Tauber Rothenburg ob der Tauber () is a town in the distric ...

and Lüneburg]. In 2006 proceedings were begun to obtain permission to deviate from a planning objective which would enable the construction of an outlet centre in spite of the latest rejection. With a change to the state regional development programme in 2008 the establishment of a factory outlet centre in the tourist region of the Lüneburg Heath was finally granted. For the purposes of the town of Soltau, the town of Bad Fallingbostel and the municipality of Bispingen regional proceedings were begun. In February 2009 this process was concluded by the supreme state planning department (State Ministry of Economics) producing a positive outcome for Soltau and a negative one for its two competitors. Construction was due to start in 2010 despite Bispingen launching an appeal. It On 20 October 2004 an earthquake shook the region. It had a strength 4.5 on the

Richter Scale The Richter scale —also called the Richter magnitude scale, Richter's magnitude scale, and the Gutenberg–Richter scale—is a measure of the strength of earthquakes, developed by Charles Francis Richter and presented in his landmark 1935 p ...

and its

epicentre The epicenter, epicentre () or epicentrum in seismology is the point on the Earth's surface directly above a hypocenter or focus, the point where an earthquake or an underground explosion originates. Surface damage Before the instrumental pe ...

was in Neuenkirchen. There had been a previous earthquake of strength 4 with an epicentre in Soltau on 2 June 1977. Since the beginning of 2005 there have been discussions about a memorial of eight representative steles from the Berlin Holocaust Memorial for "all victims of the Nazi dictatorship". However an internet survey by the newspaper, the ''Böhme-Zeitung'' showed that a majority of those who responded were against the memorial. This caused a furore nationally and gave those in favour of a memorial reason to accuse the opponents of having Nazi sentiments. Nevertheless, plans to erect the monument in central locations such as immediately in front of the station could not be carried out. This monument appeared from autumn 2006 to March 2007 in the vicinity of the remote site of the killings in the forest of ''Sibirien'' (today a hospital stands on the exact spot). The massive opposition from long-time residents of Soltau is frequently put down by them to the lack of commemoration of the many civilian and military victims from their own ranks, because they are not obviously included in the memorial. In March 2007 a concept for the transformation of the town centre was proposed. The Schaper Market, which had been built in the 1970s and lain empty since 2004, a footbridge (locally called the ''Fenner-Kringel'') and a multi-storey car park were demolished in 2008 and the theatre moved to Hagen, so that a new building could be built with a total sales floor of about . The new shopping centre was opened in March 2009.

Demographics

The oldest list of townsfolk in the town book of 1452 enumerates 42 households in Soltau, this represents a good 200 inhabitants based on the conditions of the time. Around 1600 there were about 100 households in Soltau, this corresponds to some 500 inhabitants who lived in about 70 houses. The black death raged in 1626 and caused the population to plummet dramatically. After that, the number of inhabitants rose slowly at first; accelerating from 1940. The large increase in 1974 is due to the regional reform and the incorporation of 16 surrounding villages. Following a short drop in the numbers the population grew again in the 1990s and reached its maximum in 2005 at 22,044. According to internal censuses the town has even greater numbers, e.g. in 2001 23,508, but this is mainly due to the inclusion of those with second homes. Since then the numbers have dropped slowly. This trend should stop in the next few years according to a study by the

Bertelsmann Foundation The Bertelsmann Stiftung is an independent foundation under private law, based in Gütersloh, Germany. It was founded in 1977 by Reinhard Mohn as the result of social, corporate and fiscal considerations. As the Bertelsmann Stiftung itself ...

. For 2025 ¹

Population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using ...

censuses

Culture and places of interest

Churches

Soltau churches include St. John's, which was first mentioned in 1464. The

Lutheran Church Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

was the second Protestant church to be built in Soltau (in 1911) after St. John's had burnt down in 1906 and only a small replacement was built. Other religious buildings are the Catholic St. Mary's Church built in 1915, the Holy Spirit Church in Wolterdingen as an old Gothic heath church dating to 1245, the Heidenhof Chapel built in 1349 and the Zion Church of the

Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church The Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church (german: Selbständige Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche, abbreviated SELK) is a confessional Lutheran church body of Germany. It is a member of the European Lutheran Conference and of the Internationa ...

built in 1888. SpielzeugmuseumSoltau

Museums and leisure facilities

Opposite the Old Town Hall in the centre of the town is the building housing the North German Toy Museum with of exhibition floor and the Soltau Museum. The latter traces the (pre-)history of Soltau up to 200,000 years ago. In the surrounding region, the Heide Park amusement park is very well known. Other facilities are the Soltau Thermal Springs (''Soltau-Therme'') and the ''Hof Loh'' golf course. Other sights are the Hagen with its drawbridge and the so-called Marriage Well (''Heiratsbrunnen''), which was built in 1978 by Karlheinz Goedtke, the Waldmühle Library and the Ratsmühle.

Parks, nature reserves and cemeteries

Near the centre of town is the ''Breidingsgarten'', a landscaped park that is under heritage protection. It was laid out around 1850 along English lines and covers an area of . Within the garden, next to a villa built in the Italian style is a ruined building, an old farmstead and fish and ornamental ponds. It is currently in private hands but may still be visited. Other open spaces in the town include the Böhme Park and the Röders' Park am Halifax. Nearby recreation areas are the Wacholder Park, an area of heath with a sheep shed, the ''Ahlftener Flatt'', a lake from the last ice age, which is popular for ice skating in winter, and the Kuhbach Forest. Around Soltau there are various woods belonging to the Soltau Abbey Forest (''Klosterforst'') covering a total of which is managed by the Soltau Abbey Forestry Department. In Soltau's vicinity are several

nature reserves 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, or features of geological or ...

: the Böhmetal bei Huckenrieth, Ehbläcksmoor and the Schwarzes Moor near Dannhorn. Soltau has two cemeteries, the town cemetery and the forest cemetery. There are also the ruins of a

Jewish cemetery A Jewish cemetery ( he, בית עלמין ''beit almin'' or ''beit kvarot'') is a cemetery where Jews are buried in keeping with Halakha, Jewish tradition. Cemeteries are referred to in several different ways in Hebrew, including ''beit k ...

in which people were interred from 1721 to 1926.

Culture

The Soltau Cultural Society and the Culture Initiative organise readings and concerts in the town on the Böhme river. Since 2008 the cultural week ''Zwischenspiel - Das Zelt'' has taken place annually, with readings, concerts, cabaret and theatre performances in a circus tent. There are also events by the ''Soltauer Gespräche'' ("Soltau Talks") and the Soltau Artists House that has admitted writers, painters or musicians since 1995. The Waldmühle Library takes part in the Summer Reading Club Project which is part of the Cultural Secretariat of NRW (''Kultursekretariats NRW'').

Sports

The oldest sports club in Soltau is ''MTV Soltau'', which was founded in 1864. Today it offers 16 different activities, of which football is the largest with four men's, a women's, four girls' and 15 boys' teams of all ages. The second oldest club is ''SV Soltau'', founded in 1912. Here, too, the main activity is football, but there are also many other activities. In 2002 a third football club, SG Inter Soltau, was started, but it disbanded after a few years. The oldest

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball c ...

club is ''TC Blau-Weiß Soltau''. Founded in 1952, it opened the first tennis courts in Soltau. There is also a second tennis club, ''TVC Soltau''. In 1993 a

table tennis Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...

club was started, TTC 93 Soltau.

Pool Pool may refer to: Water pool * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a rocky pool ...

has been played in Soltau since 1987 at the ''Pool Billiard Sport Club Triangel''. The club plays in the highest Lower Saxon league and takes part in several German tournaments. There is also a '' Schützenverein'' (shooting club), the ''Schützengilde Soltau Stadt und Land'', which held its first ''

Schützenfest A Schützenfest (, '' marksmen's festival'') is a traditional festival or fair featuring a target shooting competition in the cultures of Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. At a Schützenfest, contestants compete based on their shootin ...

s'' in the 15th century and, since 1741, has had a ''Schützenfest'' almost every year. Soltau has another 20 or so smaller clubs offering around 30 different types of sport. Sports facilities include an indoor and open-air swimming pool, six sports fields, eight sports halls, a

riding hall A riding hall, indoor arena, indoor school (UK English), or indoor ring (US English) is a building (part of an equestrian facility) that is specially designed for indoor horse riding. Smaller, private buildings contain only space for riding, wh ...

, a

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". The ...

, three

courts, four

nine-pin bowling Nine-pin bowling (also known as ninepin bowling, nine-pin, kegel, or kegeln) is a bowling game played primarily in Europe. European championships are held each year. In Europe overall, there are some 130,000 players. Nine-pin bowling lanes are m ...

alleys, a

ten-pin bowling Ten-pin bowling is a type of bowling in which a bowler rolls a bowling ball down a wood or synthetic lane toward ten pins positioned evenly in four rows in an equilateral triangle. The objective is to knock down all ten pins on the first roll ...

alley, squash courts, an

inline skating Inline skating is a multi-disciplinary sport and can refer to a number of activities practiced using inline skates. Inline skates typically have two to five polyurethane wheels depending on the style of practice, arranged in a single line by a ...

facility, a polo field, a group of ponds for anglers and 2000 m² of indoor sports hall, the ''Heidewitzka''. The finals of the German water polo championships took place between 1960 and 1971 in Soltau. In addition since 2004 the Heide Park has been the annual venue for the

canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the term ...

white water sprint as part of the Germany Cup. The Heide Park has also hosted, in April 2003, the World Wide Championship of LAN Gaming finals and in September 2006 the German qualifiers for the

World Cyber Games 2006 The World Cyber Games 2006 was held from October 18 to October 22, 2006 in Monza, Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the ...

electronic sports Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. Although orga ...

and between 1997 and 2003 the annual

pole-sitting Pole sitting is the practice of sitting on top of a pole (such as a flagpole) for extended lengths of time, generally used as a test of endurance. A small platform is typically placed at the top of the pole for the sitter. Led by the stunt actor ...

world cup.

Economy

Industry

Many industrial and trading companies have settled in Soltau. There is a wide range of firms in the metalworking and mechanical engineering sphere including: ''Röders-Tec'' (high-speed cutting milling machines, blow moulding, pewter), ''G.A.Röders'' (die casting, injection moulding, toolmaking), ''Röhrs AG'' (plant manufacturing, industrial building, power plant services), ''Saxlund International'' (hauling engines, pumps), ''Nortec'' (mechanical engineering) and ''Colt International'' (technical building protection). In the food industry are firms like ''Harry-Brot'' (bread, cakes and pastries) and ''H&S Tee Pack Service'' (teabag packers) and in textiles: ''Gebr. Röders AG'' (felt) and ''Breiding'' (bedsprings) (founded 1836). In addition the firm of ''MVG Mathé-Schmierstofftechnik'' makes lubricants and the

Greenpeace Energy Green Planet Energy (formerly named Greenpeace Energy) is a German electric utility in the form of a registered association. The stated goal of the cooperative is the provision of environmentally friendly energy to the electrical grid. As a foun ...

Windpark generates electricity.

Trade

Soltau is the headquarters of ''hagebau'' (purchasing cooperative for building materials, woode and tile dealers) and JAWOLL (special deals market) and a

distribution centre A distribution center for a set of products is a warehouse or other specialized building, often with refrigeration or air conditioning, which is stocked with products (goods) to be redistributed to retailers, to wholesalers, or directly to co ...

for the firm of Deichmann (shoes). The building industry cooperative, ''ZEUS'', has its main headquarters in the town as do the cattle and meat merchants of Raiffeisen Viehvermarktung Zentralheide and the SLC Container Terminal with 250,000

containers A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...

for

Hamburg Harbour The Port of Hamburg (german: Hamburger Hafen, ) is a seaport on the river Elbe in Hamburg, Germany, from its mouth on the North Sea. Known as Germany's "Gateway to the World" (''Tor zur Welt''), it is the country's largest seaport by v ...

. From 1923 to the mid-1990s the headquarters of the

Edeka The Edeka Group is the largest German supermarket corporation , holding a market share of 20.3%. Founded in 1907, it consists today of several co-operatives of independent supermarkets all operating under the umbrella organisation ''Edeka Zent ...

Group was in Soltau; it has now moved to

Minden Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the greatest town between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district (''Kreis'') of Minden-Lübbecke, which is part of the region of ...

Banks

Soltau is the base for the ''Kreissparkasse Soltau'' bank and, until 2008, for the ''Volksbank Lüneburger Heide''. When the latter merged with the ''Volksbank Lüneburg'', the head office moved to Lüneburg. There are also branches of

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (), sometimes referred to simply as Deutsche, is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Sto ...

and Postbank.

Education

The first recorded school teaching took place in 1563 in the

verger A verger (or virger, so called after the staff of the office, or wandsman (British)) is a person, usually a layperson, who assists in the ordering of religious services, particularly in Anglican churches. Etymology The title of ''verger'' ...

's living room. In 1588 the first school building was built by the church in ''Marktstraße'', the first state school followed in 1844. The building in ''Mühlenstraße'' still houses the Freudenthal Primary School today. In 1894 townsfolk founded a higher private school. In 1923 a

middle school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school ...

was established. Today Soltau has three

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

s (''Grundschulen''), a

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school, ...

(''Gymnasium'') with just under 1,400 children, a

(''Realschule''), a

(''Hauptschule'') and a

special needs In clinical diagnostic and functional development, special needs (or additional needs) refers to individuals who require assistance for disabilities that may be medical, mental, or psychological. Guidelines for clinical diagnosis are given in ...

school (''Förderschule''). In addition the charity Lebenshilfe Soltau supports a special needs centre, a

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...

for children with speech difficulties, a remedial kindergarten and a creche for

early learner Early may refer to: History * The beginning or oldest part of a defined historical period, as opposed to middle or late periods, e.g.: ** Early Christianity ** Early modern Europe Places in the United States * Early, Iowa * Early, Texas * Early ...

s. The Soltau Vocational School (''Berufsbildende Schule'' or ''BBS'') is a combined school with four different streams of education under one roof. There is a grammar stream specialising in economics, a technical high stream (''Fachoberschule'') for technology and economics, and numerous vocational courses in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analy ...

information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system ...

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, scie ...

home economics Home economics, also called domestic science or family and consumer sciences, is a subject concerning human development, personal and family finances, consumer issues, housing and interior design, nutrition and food preparation, as well as texti ...

, careworking,

cosmetics Cosmetics are constituted mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either natural sources, or synthetically created ones. Cosmetics have various purposes. Those designed for personal care and skin care can be used to cleanse or protec ...

gastronomy Gastronomy is the study of the relationship between food and culture, the art of preparing and serving rich or delicate and appetizing food, the cooking styles of particular regions, and the science of good eating. One who is well versed in gastr ...

agricultural science Agricultural science (or agriscience for short) is a broad multidisciplinary field of biology that encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic and social sciences that are used in the practice and understanding of agriculture. Profession ...

construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and ...

woodwork Woodworking is the skill of making items from wood, and includes cabinet making ( cabinetry and furniture), wood carving, joinery, carpentry, and woodturning. History Along with stone, clay and animal parts, wood was one of the first mate ...

metalwork Metalworking is the process of shaping and reshaping metals to create useful objects, parts, assemblies, and large scale structures. As a term it covers a wide and diverse range of processes, skills, and tools for producing objects on every scale ...

hairdressing A hairdresser is a person whose occupation is to cut or style hair in order to change or maintain a person's image. This is achieved using a combination of hair coloring, haircutting, and hair texturing techniques. A Hairdresser may also be re ...

. About 2,400 schoolchildren attend. The adult education centre (''Volkshochschule'') Heidekreis is based in Soltau and Walsrode and currently offers about 930 courses. The Waldmühle Library is the largest in the district. The Heidekreis

music school A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger in ...

is also based in Soltau.

Media

The ''Böhme-Zeitung'' daily newspaper has been going since 1864 with a print run of 12,116 copies . In addition there is the weekly

free newspaper Free newspapers are distributed free of charge, often in central places in cities and towns, on public transport, with other newspapers, or separately door-to-door. The revenues of such newspapers are based on advertising. They are published at ...

, the ''Mittwoch aktuell'', with a circulation of 29,000 and the twice-weekly ''Heide-Kurier'' with 44,000 copies.

Infrastructure

Transport

Rail

Soltau's station, which is still called Soltau (Hannover) (abbreviated to ''Soltau (Han)'') by the

Deutsche Bahn The (; abbreviated as DB or DB AG) is the national railway company of Germany. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). The Federal Republic of Germany is its single shareholder. describes itself as the ...

belongs to the Hanover Railway Division and lies on the Uelzen–Langwedel railway (KBS 116), part of the America Line, from Bremen to

Uelzen Uelzen (; officially the ''Hanseatic Town of Uelzen'', German: ''Hansestadt Uelzen'', , Low German ''Ülz’n'') is a town in northeast Lower Saxony, Germany, and capital of the county of Uelzen. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, a H ...

and on the Heath Railway (''Heidebahn'') (KBS 123) from Buchholz (Nordheide) to Bennemühlen(-

). There are two other stops - Soltau Nord and Wolterdingen - on the Heath Railway. Soltau also has a

goods station A goods station (also known as a goods yard or goods depot) or freight station is, in the widest sense, a railway station where, either exclusively or predominantly, goods (or freight), such as merchandise, parcels, and manufactured items, are lo ...

(Soltau Süd) in the

OHE The Osthannoversche Eisenbahnen AG (OHE) is a Celle based transportation company with railway network in North-eastern Lower Saxony around the Lüneburg Heath area of over 250 km. The OHE's main business is the transportation of freight ...

network with goods traffic links to

and

. These routes also used to have regular passenger services. The Lüneburg Transport Society (''Arbeitsgemeinschaft Verkehrsfreunde Lüneburg'') occasionally runs passenger trains on these lines to Celle and Lüneburg under the name Heath Express (''Heide-Express''). In summer there is also the ''Ameisenbär'' ("Anteater"), a historic

Wismar railbus The 'Hanover version' of the Wismar railbus (''Wismarer Schienenbus'') was developed in the early 1930s as a light railbus for economical passenger services on branch lines in Germany. History As early as the 1920s, light branch lines (the so ...

from 1937 that runs from Soltau via Bispingen to Döhle and back. The old Soltau–Neuenkirchen railway has now been dismantled. Between 1998 and 2001 there was a

roadrailer A RoadRailer is a trailer or semi-trailer that can be hauled on roads by a tractor unit and then by way of a fifth wheel coupling, operate in a unit train on railway lines. The RoadRailer system allows trailers to be pulled by locomotives witho ...

shuttle from Soltau-Harber to

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...

in Italy which used to run several times a week for the firm of 'alli-Frischdienst' that used to be based in Soltau. The halt of Harber is now just used as a

passing loop A passing loop (UK usage) or passing siding (North America) (also called a crossing loop, crossing place, refuge loop or, colloquially, a hole) is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at or near a station, where trains or ...

Roads

Since 1959 Soltau has had the

motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

exits of Soltau-Süd and Soltau-Ost on the A 7 or E 45

autobahn The (; German plural ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official German term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. ...

. Other major roads include the ''

Bundesstraße ''Bundesstraße'' ( German for "federal highway"), abbreviated ''B'', is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways. Germany Germany's ''Bundesstraßen'' network has a total length of about 40,000 km. German ''Bundesstraße ...

n'' B 3, B 71 and B 209 and the ''

Landesstraße ''Landesstraßen'' (singular: ''Landesstraße'') are roads in Germany and Austria that are, as a rule, the responsibility of the respective German or Austrian federal state. The term may therefore be translated as "state road". They are roads ...

'', L 163. As well as the regular regional bus services run by the 'Verkehrsgemeinschaft Heidekreis', which links Soltau with the surrounding towns and villages, there is a free "experience bus" (''Erlebnisbus'') between July and October through the Lüneburg Heath, which links the numerous tourist sights in the region. The two routes of the ''Erlebnisbus'' have several stops in Soltau and at the Heide Park. In addition the

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

line from Berlin to Cuxhaven via

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label= Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Mag ...

and Bremen operated by the ' Berlin Linien Bus-Gesellschaft' stops at the town every day. In the summer there are also direct bus links to the Heide Park from Hamburg, Hanover, Lüneburg and

Cycling

The

long distance cycle path Long may refer to: Measurement * Long, characteristic of something of great duration * Long, characteristic of something of great length * Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate * Longa (music), note value in early music men ...

s RFW 4 (

Leine-Heath Cycle Path The Leine-Heide Cycle Path (german: Leine-Heide-Radweg) is a long-distance cycle path in Germany that has a total length of and runs through the German federal states of Thuringia, Lower Saxony and Hamburg. Until 2009, it was called the Leine ...

) and RFW 15 (Heath Cycle Path or ''Heide-Radweg'') on the Lower Saxon long distance cycle network intersect in Soltau. In 2003 a cycle path concept was developed and implemented. For example, cycle boxes were erected at the station and the cycle network was expanded. In Soltau there are four ''Bett & Bike'' ("bed and bike") places that are recommended by the ADFC as especially "cycle-friendly".

Governance

Town council

The town council of Soltau comprises 34 councilors. As of the 2016 elections the councilors belong to the following parties or groups: * CDU: 12 seats * SPD: 9 seats *Bürgerunion (Townsfolk's Union): 4 seats * The Greens: 3 seats * AfD: 3 seats *dps (independents): 2 seats * FDP: 1 seats

Mayor

Soltau has a directly elected mayor (''Bürgermeister''). The office is currently held by Olaf Klang (independent), elected in 2021.

Elections

For elections to the

Landtag of Lower Saxony The Lower Saxon Landtag () or the Parliament of Lower Saxony is the state diet of the German state of Lower Saxony. It convenes in Hanover and currently consists of 146 members, consisting of four parties. Since 2022 the majority is a coalition ...

, Soltau is part of the constituency of Soltau together with the towns of

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following th ...

and Schneverdingen and the villages of Bispingen and Neuenkirchen. For

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the German Federalism, federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representat ...

elections Soltau belongs to various Bundestag constituencies:

Town twinning

Soltau is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with: *

Coldwater, Michigan Coldwater is a city in Branch County, Michigan, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 10,945. It is the county seat of Branch County, located in the center of the southern border of Michigan. The city is surrounded by C ...

, USA (since 1971) *

Laon Laon () is a city in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territori ...

, France (since 1972) * Flag of Germany

Osterburg,

(since 1991) *

Myślibórz Myślibórz (pronounced ; german: Soldin; csb, Żôłdzëno) is a town in northwestern Poland, in West Pomeranian Voivodeship. It is the capital of the Powiat of Myślibórz (powiat myśliborski), with a population of 11,867. It is home to th ...

, Poland (since 1997) * Flag of Poland

Grünberg in Schlesien/Zielona Góra,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

, (since 1997)

Coat of arms

The coat of arms of Soltau shows the lion of the

Welf Welf is a Germanic first name that may refer to: * Welf (father of Judith), 9th century Frankish count, father-in-law of Louis the Pious * Welf I, d. bef. 876, count of Alpgau and Linzgau *Welf II, Count of Swabia, died 1030, supposed descendant of ...

dynasty behind a red city gate. The lion was part of the original town seal from around 1400 as the town belonged to the Dukes of Lüneburg, of the

House of Welf The House of Welf (also Guelf or Guelph) is a European dynasty that has included many German and British monarchs from the 11th to 20th century and Emperor Ivan VI of Russia in the 18th century. The originally Franconia, Franconian family from ...

. Later the lion was depicted lying on the town gate, since the 19th century it has been depicted behind the gate.Erläuterungen zum Soltauer Wappen auf www.ngl.nl (Engl.)
/ref>

Notable people

* Christian Benbennek (born 1972), German football coach *

Klaas Dijkhoff Klaas Henricus Dominicus Maria Dijkhoff (born 13 January 1981) is a Dutch legal scholar and politician who led the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy in the House of Representatives from 2017 to 2021. He previously was Minister of Defence ...

(born 1981), Dutch legal scholar *

Philipp Eggersglüß Philipp Eggersglüß (born 28 April 1995) is a German footballer who plays as a right-back for Atlas Delmenhorst. Club career Eggersglüß joined Werder Bremen in 2012 from FC Verden 04. On 1 November 2015, he scored on his professional debut ...

(born 1995), German football player * Maximilian C. Jehuda Ewert (born 1974), German composer and violinist *

Marcel Gebers Marcel Gebers (born 5 June 1986) is a German former professional footballer who played as a centre-back or defensive midfielder. Career In January 2017, Gebers joined Regionalliga Nord side SV Meppen from 3. Liga The 3. Liga is a professi ...

(born 1986), German football player *

Lars Klingbeil Lars Klingbeil (born 23 February 1978) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party who has been serving as the party's Co-Leader since 2021, together with Saskia Esken. Klingbeil previously was the General Secretary of the Social Demo ...

(born 1978), German politician (SPD) *

Klaus Lage Klaus Lage (born 16 June 1950) is a German musician from Soltau, Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by l ...

(born 1950), German singer * Marleen Lohse (born 1984), German actor *

Dieter Möhrmann Dieter Möhrmann (born 1948) is a German politician in the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and deputy speaker in the Lower Saxony State Parliament. Möhrmann was born on 6 March 1948 in Soltau, Lower Saxony.

(born 1948), politician (SPD) *

Thomas Ostermeier Thomas Ostermeier (born 3 September 1968, Soltau, West Germany) is a German theatre director. He currently mainly works for the Schaubühne. Biography Ostermeier began his theatrical career in 1990 acting under director Einar Schleef, one of hi ...

(born 1968), German theatre director *

Friedemann Schulz von Thun Friedemann Schulz von Thun (born August 6, 1944 in SoltauSon of Walter and Wilma Schulz von Thun of Hamburg; birth in Soltau due to wartime evacuation of women in childbirthbiography (schulz-von-thun.de)/ref>) is a German psychologist and expert ...

(born 1944), German psychologist * Marcus Wedau (born 1975), German football player * August Wöhler (1819–1904), German railway engineer *

Herbert Kappler Herbert Kappler (23 September 1907 – 9 February 1978) was a key German SS functionary and war criminal during the Nazi era. He served as head of German police and security services (''Sicherheitspolizei'' and SD) in Rome during the Second ...

, German war criminal

References

External links

*
North German Toy Museum, Soltau
{{Authority control Heidmark Towns in Lower Saxony