Soltau is a town in the
Lüneburg HeathThe 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...
in district of
Soltau-FallingbostelSoltau-Fallingbostel is a district in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Harburg, Lüneburg, Uelzen, Celle, Hanover, Nienburg, Verden and Rotenburg.- History :...
, in
Lower SaxonyLower Saxony lies in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen Bundesländer of Germany...
,
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
.
History
The first written document mentioning Soltau dates from the year 937. In the year 1388 Soltau received city rights.
Until 1977 Soltau was the capital of the district Soltau, which was then merged with the district Fallingbostel to form the new district Soltau-Fallingbostel.
Coat of arms
The coat of arms of the city Soltau shows the lion of the Welfen dynasty behind a red city gate. The lion was present already in the oldest city seal from around the year 1400 as the city belonged to the Dukes of Lüneburg, of the Welfen dynasty. Later the lion was depicted lying on the city gate, since the 19th century it is depicted behind the gate.
Military Connections
Up until 1992 Soltau was the headquarters of the 7th Armoured Brigade. They were based at the former SS Riding School on the outskirts of town (Reitschule). This is now a business center, used for doctors' practices and social institutions. The erstwhile riding school also contains the "Alte Reithalle" (old indoor riding hall), which has been developing to the most significant indoor event location after its finished restoration in 2003.
The base was the home for 207 Signal Squadron and 11 Ordnance company. It was the most northerly posting for any British serviceman in BAOR (British Army Of the Rhine) in what was formerly known as West Germany. Armoured vehicles were regularly seen on the streets on their way to the military training area at Lüneburg. The squadron had three troops, two of which were armoured, using variants of the
FV432The FV432 is the armoured personnel carrier variant of the British Army's FV430 series of armoured fighting vehicles. Since its introduction in the 1960s it has been the most common variant, being used for transporting infantry on the battlefield...
for telecommunication purposes. The soldiers were given the freedom of the town after returning from the first Gulf War in 1991. They marched through the town to mark the occasion.
Twin towns
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External links