Bad Fallingbostel
Encyclopedia
Bad Fallingbostel 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 Bad
since 5 August 2002. It has close ties to Walsrode
, a few miles to the west. There is a British Army base in Bad Fallingbostel.
During World War II it was the site of two POW (prisoner-of-war) camps, Stalag XIB and Stalag 357, see the Fallingbostel Military Museum
between Soltau
and Walsrode
in the Heidmark
. In the vicinity is the large military training area of Bergen-Hohne
, which is utilised by the Bundeswehr
and by NATO forces, as well as Fallingbostel Station, a large barracks for the British Forces in Germany.
, Riepe, Vierde
, Jettebruch and Mengebostel as well as the town itself.
They are served by three pastors.
Both parishes belong to the church district of Walsrode in the diocese
of Lüneburg
, which is part of the Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Hanover.
Christians in Bad Fallingbostel belong to the Roman Catholic parish of St. Mary of the Holy Rosary (Sankt Maria vom heiligen Rosenkranz), which was first founded in August 2004. This brought together the hitherto independent Catholic parish of St. Mary in Bad Fallingbostel with the neighbouring parishes of St. Mary's Church in Walsrode
and the Church of the Holy Spirit in Bomlitz
-Benefeld as well as the Church of the Sacred Heart in Visselhövede
. The parish lies in the church district of Verden in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hildesheim.
(Polish: Miastko) in Pomerania
, Poland
. Every two years they meet in Bad Fallingbostel.
(formerly Rummelsburg - see above) in the Pomeranian Voivodeship
and with the French town of Périers in Basse-Normandie
.
Bad Fallingbostel is host to the museum of the Archaeological Working Group (Archäologischen Arbeitsgemeinschaft). In the Osterberg Megalith Park large stones are displayed, which were transported from Scandinavia
during the ice age
s to the region around Bad Fallingbostel.
Other archaeological sights include the Sieben Steinhäuser
, a prehistoric burial site with five dolmen
s, which is around 5,000 years old. There are located on the Bergen-Hohne Training Area
(near Ostenholz). There is also a Bronze Age
burial site near the village of Vierde
.
Also worth seeing are:
from Hanover to Soltau.
Bad Fallingbostel lies on the A 7 motorway between the Walsrode three-way intersection and the Maschener Kreuz four-way intersection.
for the computing world took place in Bad Fallingbostel under the name of Mekka & Symposium
.
, as depicted in the film, nor have Intercity
trains stopped here. From a kilometre sign that appears briefly in the scene, it was discovered that the station used in the film was the one at Neustadt am Rübenberge
, whose station nameboards were swapped for the film shoot.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
state of Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...
. Since 1976 the town has had a state-recognised Kneipp spa and has held the title of Bad
Spa town
A spa town is a town situated around a mineral spa . Patrons resorted to spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. The word comes from the Belgian town Spa. In continental Europe a spa was known as a ville d'eau...
since 5 August 2002. It has close ties to Walsrode
Walsrode
-Middle Ages:986 Foundation of Walsrode Abbey by Count Walo. The first recorded mentionof the town is dated May 7, 986.1383 The dukes of Brunswick and Lüneburg grant Walsrode a town charter.1479 First recorded instance of Walsrode's coat of arms...
, a few miles to the west. There is a British Army base in Bad Fallingbostel.
During World War II it was the site of two POW (prisoner-of-war) camps, Stalag XIB and Stalag 357, see the Fallingbostel Military Museum
Location
Bad Fallingbostel lies on the Böhme river in the southern part of the Lüneburg HeathLüneburg Heath
The Lüneburg Heath is a large area of heath, geest and woodland in 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 named after the town of Lüneburg. Most of the area is a nature reserve...
between Soltau
Soltau
- Middle Ages :The region of the Lüneburg Heath had already been settled by the start of the New Stone Age 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...
and Walsrode
Walsrode
-Middle Ages:986 Foundation of Walsrode Abbey by Count Walo. The first recorded mentionof the town is dated May 7, 986.1383 The dukes of Brunswick and Lüneburg grant Walsrode a town charter.1479 First recorded instance of Walsrode's coat of arms...
in the Heidmark
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 by the German armed forces, the Wehrmacht, as part of their rearmament and preparation for war resulted in the...
. In the vicinity is the large military training area of Bergen-Hohne
Bergen-Hohne Training Area
Bergen-Hohne Training Area is a NATO military training area in the southern part of the Lüneburg Heath, in the state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany. It covers an area of , which makes it the largest military training area in Germany.It was established by the German armed forces, the...
, which is utilised by the Bundeswehr
Bundeswehr
The Bundeswehr consists of the unified armed forces of Germany and their civil administration and procurement authorities...
and by NATO forces, as well as Fallingbostel Station, a large barracks for the British Forces in Germany.
Sub-divisions
The administrative borough of Bad Fallingbostel is also responsible for the villages of DorfmarkDorfmark
The village of Dorfmark is part of the borough of Bad Fallingbostel in the Heidekreis district in the German state of Lower Saxony.Dorfmark has 3,469 inhabitants, over 22% of the borough's population, and an area of , some 24% of the total area in the borough.The River Böhme flows through Dorfmark...
, Riepe, Vierde
Vierde
Vierde is a village within the borough of Bad Fallingbostel in Soltau-Fallingbostel district in the Heidmark .- History :...
, Jettebruch and Mengebostel as well as the town itself.
Nearby towns and cities
Evangelical church
The majority of the church-going Christian residents of the town belong to the Evangelical Lutheran church. Within the borough there are two church parishes:- Fallingbostel parish: the Church of St. Dionysius with 5,598 parishioners (and the Peace Church (Friedenskirche) in Bommelsen (municipality of Bomlitz) with 625 members)
- Dorfmark parish: St. Martin's Church with 2,848 members
They are served by three pastors.
Both parishes belong to the church district of Walsrode in the diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
of Lüneburg
Lüneburg
Lüneburg is a town in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is located about southeast of fellow Hanseatic city Hamburg. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, and one of Hamburg's inner suburbs...
, which is part of the Evangelical Lutheran State Church of Hanover.
Roman Catholic church
The CatholicRoman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
Christians in Bad Fallingbostel belong to the Roman Catholic parish of St. Mary of the Holy Rosary (Sankt Maria vom heiligen Rosenkranz), which was first founded in August 2004. This brought together the hitherto independent Catholic parish of St. Mary in Bad Fallingbostel with the neighbouring parishes of St. Mary's Church in Walsrode
Walsrode
-Middle Ages:986 Foundation of Walsrode Abbey by Count Walo. The first recorded mentionof the town is dated May 7, 986.1383 The dukes of Brunswick and Lüneburg grant Walsrode a town charter.1479 First recorded instance of Walsrode's coat of arms...
and the Church of the Holy Spirit in Bomlitz
Bomlitz
Bomlitz is a municipality in the Heidekreis district, in Lower Saxony, Germany.- Location :Bomlitz lies on the Lüneburg Heath in a heavily wooded area...
-Benefeld as well as the Church of the Sacred Heart in Visselhövede
Visselhövede
Visselhövede is a town in the district of Rotenburg in Lower Saxony, Germany. Nearby towns include the district capital Rotenburg, Walsrode and Verden. Larger cities within a 100 km radius are Bremen, Hanover and Hamburg....
. The parish lies in the church district of Verden in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hildesheim.
Adopted town
In 1963 Bad Fallingbostel adopted the town of RummelsburgMiastko
Miastko , is a town in the Middle Pomerania region of northwestern Poland. Administratively it has since 1999 been part of Bytów County in the Pomeranian Voivodeship; previously it had been in Słupsk Voivodeship.-History:Before 1945 the town belonged to the Prussian Province of Pomerania...
(Polish: Miastko) in Pomerania
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. Every two years they meet in Bad Fallingbostel.
Twin-towns
Bad Fallingbostel is twinned today with the Polish town of MiastkoMiastko
Miastko , is a town in the Middle Pomerania region of northwestern Poland. Administratively it has since 1999 been part of Bytów County in the Pomeranian Voivodeship; previously it had been in Słupsk Voivodeship.-History:Before 1945 the town belonged to the Prussian Province of Pomerania...
(formerly Rummelsburg - see above) in the Pomeranian Voivodeship
Pomeranian Voivodeship
Pomeranian Voivodeship, or Pomerania Province , is a voivodeship, or province, in north-central Poland. It comprises most of Pomerelia , as well as an area east of the Vistula River...
and with the French town of Périers in Basse-Normandie
Basse-Normandie
Lower Normandy is an administrative region of France. It was created in 1956, when the Normandy region was divided into Lower Normandy and Upper Normandy...
.
Merger into the town of Böhmetal
A merger of Bad Fallingbostel with the town of Walsrode and the municipality of Bomlitz was planned for 2011 to create the town of Böhmetal. Following a referendum on 2 November 2008 this plan was rejected by the citizens in Bad Fallingbostel with a clear majority. Just under 62% of the voters turned out, of whom 80% were against the merger. In Walsrode and Bomlitz a small majority were in favour of a merger (56.4 % in Bomlitz and 53.8% in Walsrode). On 10 November 2008 the town council of Bad Fallingbostel voted against the merger.Culture and places of interest
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
during the ice age
Ice age
An ice age or, more precisely, glacial age, is a generic geological period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers...
s to the region around Bad Fallingbostel.
Other archaeological sights include the Sieben Steinhäuser
Sieben Steinhäuser
The Sieben Steinhäuser is a group of five dolmens on the Lüneburg Heath in the NATO training area of Bergen-Hohne, in the state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany. The stones are considered to be part of the funnelbeaker culture...
, a prehistoric burial site with five dolmen
Dolmen
A dolmen—also known as a portal tomb, portal grave, dolmain , cromlech , anta , Hünengrab/Hünenbett , Adamra , Ispun , Hunebed , dös , goindol or quoit—is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of...
s, which is around 5,000 years old. There are located on the Bergen-Hohne Training Area
Bergen-Hohne Training Area
Bergen-Hohne Training Area is a NATO military training area in the southern part of the Lüneburg Heath, in the state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany. It covers an area of , which makes it the largest military training area in Germany.It was established by the German armed forces, the...
(near Ostenholz). There is also a Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
burial site near the village of Vierde
Vierde
Vierde is a village within the borough of Bad Fallingbostel in Soltau-Fallingbostel district in the Heidmark .- History :...
.
Also worth seeing are:
- the spa park (Kurpark)
- the Hof der Heidmark with its Rummelsburg homestead, a Low German house in the Liethwald wood
- the Evangelical Church of St. Dionysius in the town centre
- the Quintus Memorial at St. Dionysius' Church
- the Evangelical St. Martin's Church in Dorfmark
- der village well in Dorfmark
- the Hermann Löns graveHermann LönsHermann Löns was a German journalist and writer. He is most famous as "The Poet of the Heath" for his novels and poems celebrating the people and landscape of the North German moors, particularly the Lüneburg Heath in Lower Saxony. Löns is well known in Germany for his famous folksongs...
in the Tietling juniper grove (Wacholderhain) - the grave of Erich von MansteinErich von MansteinErich von Manstein was a field marshal in World War II. He became one of the most prominent commanders of Germany's World War II armed forces...
in Dorfmark
Transport
Bad Fallingbostel has two railway stations - Bad Fallingbostel and Dorfmark - on the Heath RailwayHeath Railway
The Heath Railway is a regional railway line in North Germany that crosses the Lüneburg Heath from which it derives its name. Most of the line is unelectrified and single-tracked. It links Buchholz in der Nordheide with Hanover, the capital city of Lower Saxony...
from Hanover to Soltau.
Bad Fallingbostel lies on the A 7 motorway between the Walsrode three-way intersection and the Maschener Kreuz four-way intersection.
People from the town
- Friedrich Freudenthal (1849–1929), regional poet
- August Freudenthal (1851–1898), regional poet
- Helmut Schlüter (1925–1967), trades unionist and politician (SPD), MdB
People associated with the town
- Heinrich von Quintus-Icilius (1798–1861), civil lawyer; a statue of him has been erected in Fallingbostel
- Erich von MansteinErich von MansteinErich von Manstein was a field marshal in World War II. He became one of the most prominent commanders of Germany's World War II armed forces...
(1878–1973), field marshal, laid to rest in Dorfmark near Fallingbostel
Events
Between 1997 and 2002 demopartiesDemoparty
A demoparty is an event that gathers demosceners and other computer enthusiasts to compete in competitions. A typical demoparty is a non-stop event lasting over a weekend, providing the visitors a lot of time to socialize. The competing works, at least those in the most important competitions, are...
for the computing world took place in Bad Fallingbostel under the name of Mekka & Symposium
Mekka & Symposium
Mekka & Symposium was a demoparty held annually in Fallingbostel, Germany over the Easter days from 1997 to 2002....
.
Depiction on film
In the film 23 – Nichts ist so wie es scheint (23 - Nothing Is As It Seems) the two lead characters are thrown out of the train at "Fallingbostel" station by the guard because they are taking drugs. However, Fallingbostel has neither overhead catenaryOverhead lines
Overhead lines or overhead wires are used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains at a distance from the energy supply point...
, as depicted in the film, nor have Intercity
Intercity (Deutsche Bahn)
Intercity is the second-highest train classification in Germany, after the ICE. Intercity services are loco-hauled express services, usually over long-distances. There are Intercity routes throughout Germany, and routes generally operate with a two-hour frequency, with multiple routes giving a more...
trains stopped here. From a kilometre sign that appears briefly in the scene, it was discovered that the station used in the film was the one at Neustadt am Rübenberge
Neustadt am Rübenberge
Neustadt am Rübenberge is a town in the district of Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. At 357 km², it is the 9th largest settlement in Germany by area , though only about 45,000 inhabitants live there...
, whose station nameboards were swapped for the film shoot.