Bad Fallingbostel

Bad Fallingbostel is the county town (Kreisstadt) of Soltau-Fallingbostel in the state of Lower Saxony. It is a recognised state-recognised spa town, hence the prefix "Bad".

The moorlands of the Lüneburg Heath are a beautiful place to visit. It offers some of the most beautiful places to hike, walk, or cycle around Lower Saxony, a brilliant way to see the Lüneburg Health. Bad Fallingbostel also has the old German farmhouse known as Hof der Heidmark and many of the town's timber framed houses are still here.

Understand
Bad Fallingbostel lies within the Lüneburg Heath region, a popular holiday and excursion area for the great North German cities of Hanover, Hamburg and Bremen. It has close ties to Walsrode, a few miles to the west. There is a British Army base in Bad Fallingbostel. In 2020, it was home to 12,000 people.

During World War II it was the site of two POW camps, Stalag XIB and Stalag 357.

History
Bad Fallingbostel is an interesting town with quite a bit of history. The old church of St. Dionysis is an interesting site to see, as is the monument to Heinrich von Quintus Icilius; a 19th-century politician who helped create one of the first savings banks in Hanover. The villages are over a thousand years old, although documented mentioning occurred only at later times. The main town Fallingbostel celebrated its 1000th anniversary in 1993. In the year 993 Fallingbostel was mentioned in writing for the first time. Kaiser Otto III. set the border between the bishoprics Hildesheim and Minden. In this document Fallingbostel is referred to as "Vastulingeburstalle". This name means "place to live of Vastulo or of the Vastulingers". Dorfmark was first mentioned in documents which are dated to the time around 968. In one of those documents from the year 1006 these place is called "Thormarca". That name is interpreted: Thor = to the, marca = border, forest-cooperative, market-cooperative

In World War II, Bad Fallingbostel was the site of POW camps Stalag XIB, XID, and 357 (Stalag XIC was the Bergen Belsen camp only about a half hour away). More than 30,000 Soviet prisoners were buried here before the camp was liberated in 1945. After the war, the camp was used as an internment camp for National Socialists; it's now all part of the Fallingbostel Military Museum. World War II history has found its way in town in another way, it's the final resting place of Field Marshal Erich von Manstein, a high ranking general who served four years in prison for war crimes before going off to become a military advisor for the British. Interestingly enough, the 19th century writer (journalist, conservationist, historian) Hermann Löns is also buried here. He died long before the start of the 2nd World War, but his nationalistic writings caught the attention of the Nazis and Adolf Hitler ordered his body exhumed and reburied here.

Bad Fallingbostel is a small beautiful town with a lot of history. But if history is not your thing then there are plenty of sites and attractions around Fallingbostel that would be of interest.

Geography
Bad Fallingbostel lies on the Böhme river in the southern part of the Lüneburg Heath 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.

By car
Bad Fallingbostel lies next to the A7 motorway between Hamburg and Hanover and has its own motorway exit.

By plane
Bad Fallingbostel is central to the main airports in the region, Bremen, Hannover and Hamburg. All of these airports have flights from the main cities in the UK (Such as the London airports, Birmingham, Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Manchester) and also from the main cities in Europe (Such as Paris, Venice and Moscow)


 * Bremen Airport, near Bremen is about 82km from Fallingbostel and estimated time travel is 50 minutes (depending on traffic). From Bremen Airport, head southeast on Flughafenallee and onto Flughafendamm. Follow it left to where it becomes Cornelius-Edzard-Straße and turn right onto B6 (Neuenlander Str.). Take the A1 exit toward Osnabrück/Oldenburg and keep left until you can merge onto the A1. Take exit 53 (Bremer Kreuz) and merge onto A27 toward Hannover/Achim, then take exit 27 for B209 toward Walsrode/Rethem and stay on B209, following the signs for Bad Fallingbostel. Continue onto Düshorner Str./L163 and follow it into town.
 * Hanover Airport, near Hanover is only a short trip to Bad Fallingbostel. To drive from Hannover airport to Bad Fallingbostel will take you about 30 minutes (depending on traffic). If driving from there, head northeast toward and turn right onto Flughafenstraße/K324, then turn left onto Wagenzeller Str./L190. Turn left to merge onto A352, keep left, and take the exit toward A7. Take exit 47 (Bad Fallingbostel) toward Oerbke. Keep right at the fork and merge onto B209. Then turn right onto Düshorner Str./L163, and follow it into town.
 * Hamburg Airport, near Hamburg is another main airport not too far from Fallingbostel. To drive from Hamburg Airport to Bad Fallingbostel will take you around 1 hour 15 minutes (depending on traffic). If driving, head south and take the left exit onto Zeppelinstraße/B433, and from there, a slight right to merge onto Krohnstieg/B433. Continue to follow B433 and then take Oldesloer Str./B432 and merge onto A7 via the ramp to Hannover/Bremen/Husum/Heide. Take exit 47 and turn right onto Deiler Weg/B209 (signs for Nienburg/Walsrode/Bad Fallingbostel), continue to follow B209. Turn right onto Düshorner Str./L163 and follow it into town.

By train
Bad Fallingbostel has two railway stations - Bad Fallingbostel and Dorfmark - on the Heath Railway from Hanover to Soltau, from both stations you can travel to a number of destinations, these include Soltau, Walsrode, Bremen, Hamburg and Hannover. There are ticket offers available. The Lander-Ticket offers unlimited travel for a whole day within a certain region. Travel can be on any day of the week within one of the German states. The ticket can be used on all local trains (Regional Express, Regional Bahn, S-Bahn) and several other transport systems. The package price starts from €29 for up to 5 people travelling together or for parents (or one parent) travelling with any number of children under the age of 15.

If your looking for savings for weekend travelling then get the Schönes Wochenende Ticket. It is one of the best ticket offers for tourists of all ages. The ticket is valid for up to 5 people travelling together and for parents travelling with their children aged 14 or younger. The ticket is only valid on either Saturday or Sunday (one day only) between midnight and 03:00 the following day. Tickets are €39.(Oct 2011)

You can purchase tickets on DB website or at the station from the ticket machine which is by the platform. The machine can be translated into English.

By bus
There are several bus routes that travel in and around Bad Fallingbostel.

By taxi
There is a taxi rank at the Bad Fallingbostel train station. There are a few taxi companies in Fallingbostel and their prices vary, but are not overall expensive. Here are some useful taxi telephone numbers and information: -


 * Eddy's Taxi. +49 5051 6655. They provide a 24-hour service and have transport for up to 6 passengers.
 * Taxi abs. +49 5051 66 66. They provide a 24-hour service. Airport transportation and have transport that seats up to 8 people.

Do

 * Historical Walks There are a number of informative walks in and around Bad Fallingbostel with a varied distances.

Events
Join in the fun at the annual Wine Festival at Whitsun weekend or the Beach Festival in August in Dorfmark!

Drink


There are more bars and clubs are in Walsrode, the next town from Bad Fallingbostel, about 10-15 minute drive away.

Connect

 * Telefiji Dushorner Str. An internet/telephone shop with a number of computers and telephones which the public can use. They also have printers, so if you need to print boarding passes etc., it's a great place to go.

Go next

 * Walsrode
 * Soltau
 * Hamburg
 * Bremen
 * Hanover
 * Bremen
 * Hanover