Soltau-Fallingbostel

Infobox German district noregbez
name=Soltau-Fallingbostel
state=Lower Saxony
capital=Bad Fallingbostel
area=1873
population=142,200
population_as_of=2003
density=76
carsign=SFA
url= [http://www.soltau-fallingbostel.de soltau-fallingbostel.de]

Soltau-Fallingbostel (IPA2|ˈzɔltaʊ falɪŋˈbɔstəl) is a district ("Landkreis") in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Harburg, Lüneburg, Uelzen, Celle, Hanover, Nienburg, Verden and Rotenburg.

History

Historically the region belonged to the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg and its successor states. The district was established in 1977 by merging the former districts of Soltau and Fallingbostel.

Geography

The district includes the western half of the Lüneburg Heath ("Lüneburger Heide"). Since this landscape is so characteristic for the district, it calls itself "the Heath District". It is named for the two towns of Soltau and Bad Fallingbostel. The latter is the capital, although it has only 11,800 inhabitants and is only the fifth largest place in the district.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms displays:
* in the upper half the heraldic lion of Brunswick-Lüneburg
* in the lower half a megalithic grave

Towns and municipalities

External links

* [http://www.soltau-fallingbostel.de/ Official website] (German)