Vierde is a village within the borough of

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 ...

in Soltau-Fallingbostel district in the

Heidmark The Heidmark () is an area of the Lüneburg Heath, much of which has not been accessible to the population since about 1935–1936. The establishment of a large military training area (''Truppenübungsplatzes Bergen'') by the German armed forces, ...

(southern part 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 ...

in the state of

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 ...

Northern Germany Northern Germany (, ) is a linguistic, geographic, socio-cultural and historic region in the northern part of Germany which includes the coastal states of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Lower Saxony and the two city-states Hambur ...

Geographical location

The village lies on state road 163 northeast of Bad Fallingbostel.

History

The first recorded mention of the village was around 1337. The name "Vierde" is derived from the four (''vier'') full-sized farms (''Vollhöfen'') that once formed the village of Vierde. Vierde was an agricultural village for centuries and, for the most part, still is today. Until the 19th century the keeping of ''

Heidschnucke The Heidschnucke is a group of three types of moorland sheep from northern Germany. Like a number of other types from Scandinavia and Great Britain, they are Northern European short-tailed sheep. The three breeds of Heidschnucke (in order of pop ...

n'' (moorland sheep) was the main source of income for the heath farmers. Only once the

hardpan In soil science, agriculture and gardening, hardpan or soil pan is a dense layer of soil, usually found below the uppermost topsoil layer. There are different types of hardpan, all sharing the general characteristic of being a distinct soil layer ...

could be dealt with it was possible to cultivate crops, like grain and fruit trees, in order to generate new sources of income. Long established families are closely linked to the history and development of the village. The oldest surnames include: 1379: Ghogeue, 1438: Bode 1438: Niegemeiger, 1438: de rode Cordesche, 1438: Metteke, 1438: Detmer: 1438: Eggerdeschen stede woste, 1528: Hans Lethsemann, 1528: Cordt Pruschhagen, 1528: Cordt tom Kampe, 1528: Dirick 1528: Enmers, 1899: Oelfke. Large farms still bear witness to the development of these families today.

Culture and Landscape

As well as farming, the woods and the River Böhme, the ''Böhmeschlucht'' campsite, which is sited in the gorge of the same name, also stamps the character of Vierde. Vierde is located in the

, which was once the most beautiful part of the Lüneburg Heath. Large parts of the Heidmark were turned into a

military training area A military training area, training area (Australia, Ireland, and the United Kingdom) or training centre (Canada) is land set aside specifically to enable military forces to train and exercise for combat. Training areas are usually out of bounds ...

in 1935/36 (nowadays the largest of its kind in Europe, the

Bergen-Hohne Training Area The Bergen-Hohne Training Area (German: ''NATO-Truppenübungsplatz Bergen'' or ''Schießplatz Bergen-Hohne'') is a NATO military training area in the southern part of the Lüneburg Heath, in the state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany. It c ...

), and numerous villages disappeared from the map. The people of Vierde make an effort to work together to achieve cohesion, something which is seen as very important. The successful Adolphsheide-Vierde Shooting Club plays a significant role in bringing folk together.

The legend of the Hexenberg

The legend of the Hexenberg in Vierde has been passed down for generations. According to the legend:

A witch used to live in the ''Papenhaus''. One day she died. She was to be buried on the hill. So her coffin was loaded onto a cart. The horses sweated under the load. At ''Leitzmann's'' they could go no further. Suddenly something moved in the coffin. It was opened quickly and... a sow jumped out.

Since then, the hill has been called the Hexenberg ("witch's hill").

Media

* Walsroder Zeitung

Culture and places of interest

* Bronze Age gravesites

Literature

* Hans Stuhlmacher: ''Der Kreis Fallingbostel.'' Walsrode 1935

References

{{authority control Villages in Lower Saxony Heidmark