Bergen-Hohne

Bergen-Hohne is a former military garrison and one of the largest military training areas in Germany. Established in the mid-1930s, it served successive forces including the Wehrmacht, the British Army of the Rhine, and later formations of the British Army and Bundeswehr. The site played a prominent role during the Second World War, the Cold War, and the post-Cold War drawdown, before final closure and conversion initiatives in the early 21st century.

History

The area was created during the rearmament of Nazi Germany under the Third Reich and expanded as part of the military preparations that preceded the Invasion of Poland and the Battle of France. During the Second World War the training ground supported units of the Heer and hosted maneuver exercises tied to the operational planning of the Blitzkrieg campaigns. After 1945, the site fell into the British occupation zone administered by the Allied powers and was adapted for use by the British Army of the Rhine as part of NATO's forward defense posture against the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union. Throughout the Cold War decades it hosted multinational training involving formations associated with NATO, including exercises with the United States Army, Canadian Forces, Dutch Armed Forces, and Belgian Armed Forces. In the 1990s and 2000s, drawdowns following treaties such as the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe and strategic reviews like the Options for Change and Strategic Defence Review led to reductions in footprint, culminating in phased handovers to Bundeswehr authorities and local administrations.

Geography and Facilities

Located in the district of Celle in Lower Saxony, the training area spanned heathland, forests, and agricultural buffer zones near towns including Bergen, Lower Saxony, Soltau, and Hermannsburg. The terrain features glacial moraines of the Saale glaciation and nutrient-poor Lüneburg Heath ecosystems, providing diverse training environments for armored, infantry, and artillery maneuvers. Infrastructure comprised live-fire ranges, urban assault villages, cantonment areas with barracks, motor pools, maintenance depots, airstrips suitable for helicopters, and logistics hubs linked by federal roads and the regional rail network serving Celle (district). Support facilities included medical centers, chapels, mess halls, storage bunkers, and firing-control towers adapted from interwar and postwar construction typologies. Environmental buffers and restricted zones were delineated to protect adjoining communities such as Bergen, Langlingen, and Bargfeld during combined-arms exercises.

Military Role and Units

As a principal NATO training hub, the site hosted armored brigades, mechanized infantry, and artillery regiments from units like the 1st Armoured Division (United Kingdom), elements of the British 7th Armoured Brigade, and squadrons attached to the Household Cavalry Regiment. American participation included rotations from the 1st Infantry Division (United States), while Canadian and Dutch contingents deployed units related to their domestic brigade formations. The facility supported specialized carriers such as the Challenger 2, Leopard 2, M109 howitzer, and logistics platforms including the Panzerhaubitze 2000 in multinational exercises. Training packages incorporated live-fire combined-arms maneuvers, urban operations with mock villages reflecting doctrines from the British Army of the Rhine and Bundeswehr, helicopter insertion drills involving the RAF Regiment and US Army Aviation, and artillery coordination employing systems linked to NATO Fire Support procedures. The garrison also accommodated signal regiments, engineering units tasked with breaching and fortification construction, and logistic formations responsible for fuel and ammunition handling under NATO supply norms.

Post-Cold War Transition and Closure

Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and strategic realignments across Europe, successive defense reviews initiated withdrawals and base reductions, influencing the site's gradual drawdown. The United Kingdom reduced presence as part of the Strategic Defence and Security Review processes, and formal handover activities progressed in cooperation with Bundeswehr and local German authorities. Environmental remediation obligations, land restitution claims by displaced residents from the 1930s expulsions, and regional development plans shaped negotiations tied to closure. Final closures were coordinated with European security frameworks, logistics for decommissioning ordnance supported by explosive ordnance disposal teams from NATO, and transition projects involving Bundesanstalt für Immobilienaufgaben and municipal stakeholders. Subsequent reuse proposals emphasized conservation, commercial redevelopment, and heritage preservation consistent with policies enacted by the European Union and Lower Saxony government.

Environmental and Cultural Impact

The long-term military use left a mixed legacy: restricted access preserved extensive tracts of Lüneburg Heath flora and fauna, aiding species associated with heathland habitats, while live-fire activities necessitated remediation of unexploded ordnance and soil contamination addressed under German environmental statutes and regional conservation programs. Archaeological surveys linked to base closures uncovered sites dating to the Bronze Age and Iron Age, prompting involvement from the German Archaeological Institute and local museums in Celle. Socially, base closures affected economies of towns such as Bergen, Lower Saxony and Faßberg that had developed around garrison employment and services, leading to regeneration initiatives funded by European Regional Development Fund mechanisms and state-level rural development agencies. Commemorative efforts include memorials and exhibitions curated in collaboration with veterans' associations like the Royal British Legion and municipal cultural institutions documenting the 20th-century military history of the region.

Category:Military installations of Germany Category:Cold War military history of the United Kingdom