Bergen-Hohne Training Area
[1] Under British control, the training area was steadily expanded and, since the 1960s, has also been used by the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) and other NATO troops.
It is located between Bad Fallingbostel in the west and Bergen in the east, and between the towns of Soltau a few miles to the north and Wietze to the south.
Outside of and flowing parallel to the northwestern edge of the military training area is part of the middle course of the River Böhme.
Similarly the Meiße runs roughly along its southeastern and southern boundary (both are northeastern tributaries of the River Aller).
Near the centre of the area are the Sieben Steinhäuser (literally: seven stone houses), a group of dolmens that may be visited at weekends.
The central and southern parts of the training area are drained by this stream (which passes the Sieben Steinhäuser) and the Hohe Bach, both northeastern tributaries of the Meiße.
These woods include the Becklinger Holz and amongst the elevations here are the: Falkenberg (150 m above sea level (NN)), Hakenberg (143 m), Staffelberg (127 m), Hengstberg (121 m), Hammberg (107 m), Großer Dellberg (107 m), Scharpenhorn (107 m), Fuhrberg (102 m), Horstberg (98 m), Söhrenberg (93 m) and Ziegenberg (63 m).
The last wolf in the Lüneburg Heath was seen and shot east of Becklingen on 13 January 1872 in the forest of Becklinger Holz, which, today, is within the training area.
[3] Amongst the villages that disappeared from the map were Deil, Hörsten, Hoppenstedt, Hohne,[4] Hohnerode, Manhorn, Lohe, Gudehausen, Ettenbostel, Oberndorfmark, Oberhode, Benhorn, Hartem, Fahrenholz, Böstlingen, Pröbsten, Kolk, Südbostel, Nordbostel, Obereinzingen, Untereinzingen, Achterberg, Wense and parts of Oerbke, Ostenholz and Hasselhorst.
[5][6] At the eastern perimeter of the area, near the village of Belsen, and called in those days the Ostlager or "East Camp", around 100 barrack blocks, 50 stables and 40 large garage blocks were built, as well as a hospital, storage depots and a target factory, where targets for the firing ranges were made.
During the Cold War the area was intensively used by the heavy concentrations of troops on the North German Plain, which was seen as strategically important to NATO.
The troops of NATO member countries – Germany, Netherlands, Britain and Belgium – exercise regularly on the training area.
Major combat equipment that uses the ranges include Challenger 2 and Leopard 2 tanks, WAH-64 Apache attack helicopters and Panzerhaubitze 2000.
Opposite this barracks is the village of Belsen which gave its name to the nearby Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in the Second World War.
