Stalag XI-C

Bergen-Belsen (pronounced [ˈbɛʁɡn̩ˌbɛlsn̩]), or Belsen, was a Nazi concentration camp in what is today Lower Saxony in northern Germany, southwest of the town of Bergen near Celle. Originally established as a prisoner of war camp, in 1943, parts of it became a concentration camp. Initially this was an "exchange camp", where Jewish hostages were held with the intention of exchanging them for German prisoners of war held overseas. The camp was later expanded to hold Jews from other concentration camps. After 1945, the name was applied to the displaced persons camp established nearby, but it is most commonly associated with the concentration camp. From 1941 to 1945, almost 20,000 Soviet prisoners of war and a further 50,000 inmates died there. Overcrowding, lack of food, and poor sanitary conditions caused outbreaks of typhus, tuberculosis, typhoid fever, and dysentery; leading to the deaths of more than 35,000 people in the first few months of 1945, shortly before and after the liberation. The camp was liberated on April 15, 1945, by the British 11th Armoured Division. The soldiers discovered approximately 60,000 prisoners inside, most of them half-starved and seriously ill, and another 13,000 corpses lying around the camp unburied. A memorial with an exhibition hall currently stands at the site.

Bergen-Belsen displaced persons camp was a displaced persons (DP) camp for refugees after World War II, in Lower Saxony in northwestern Germany, southwest of the town of Bergen near Celle. It was in operation from the summer of 1945 until September 1950. For a time, Belsen DP camp was the largest Jewish DP camp in Germany and the only one in the British occupation zone with an exclusively Jewish population.: 34  The camp was under British authority and overseen by the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) with camp directors that included Simon Bloomberg. Today, the camp is a Bundeswehr barracks, having been a British Army base (see Hohne Station) until 2015.

Schloss Bredebeck ("Bredebeck House") was built in 1901/1902 by a farmer, Herr Hellberg. It is actually a manor house in terms of its size and function. The house is located in woodland in the German state of Lower Saxony between the former villages of Hörsten and Hohne, which disappeared in the 1930s in the wake of the establishment of Bergen-Hohne Training Area. In 1936, the Bredebeck estate was incorporated into the training area and, since then, has not been accessible to the general public. It became part of the British Army's estate at Bergen-Hohne Garrison.

Bergen-Hohne Garrison was a major British garrison in the post-Cold War period, with facilities located close to Bergen at Lager Hohne, at Lager Oerbke near Fallingbostel and at Celle in Lower Saxony, Germany. It was home to 7th Armoured Brigade and most of its subordinate units. It formed a major part of British Forces Germany.

Walle is a village and Ortschaft (municipal division) of the municipality of Winsen (Aller) in Celle district, Lower Saxony, on the Lüneburg Heath in Germany.

Belsen is a village within the German borough of Bergen in the northern part of Celle district on the Lüneburg Heath in Lower Saxony. The village, whose original site lies about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) southwest of Bergen, has 331 inhabitants (as at: 31 December 2000). The Belsen concentration camp was named after it. Today Belsen is dominated by the former British Army camp of Hohne (German: Lager Hohne) on the edge of the NATO firing ranges.

Meißendorf is a village and Ortschaft (municipal division) of the municipality of Winsen an der Aller in the Lower Saxon district of Celle in northern Germany. It lies 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) northwest of Winsen an der Aller. It derives its name from the river Meiße which flows through the village. 1,666 people have their main residence in Meißendorf and 224 have a second home here. There is also a campsite with about 100 permanent pitches and a mobile home site. The Lower Saxony Nature Conservation Society runs a nature conservation centre on the Sunder Estate (Gut Sunder) with 600 participants annually and about 1,000 conference participants. There are also hotel and day visitors. Meißendorf is also home to the Hütten Lake (Hüttensee) Park, which borders onto the 815 hectares (2,010 acres) nature reserve of Meißendorf Lakes and Bannetzer Moor. Meißendorf is well known for being the base of the Hanover Parachute Club with its jumps onto the special landing zone at Brunsiek. It was founded in the 1970s by Olympic champion and national trainer for show jumping, Hermann Schridde, and he offers those interested the chance to do tandem jumps as well as training towards the award of a parachute jumping licence.

Bergen (Eastphalian: Bargen) is a town in the north of Celle district on the Lüneburg Heath, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Administratively it acts as a municipal borough divided into 12 subordinate parishes based on the town and its surrounding villages: Becklingen, Belsen, Bergen, Bleckmar, Diesten, Dohnsen, Eversen, Hagen, Hassel, Offen, Sülze and Wardböhmen. Bergen-Belsen concentration camp was located in the area of Belsen. The town had 13,099 inhabitants according to the census conducted in December 2008. Members of the British military and their families, who were not included in the census, brought the actual population to about 17,000. These soldiers occupied a NATO base and exercise on the Bergen-Hohne Training Area just outside the town, but the base closed in summer 2015 as part of the British Army's withdrawal from Germany. The Sieben Steinhäuser, a cluster of dolmens dating from the Stone Age, are located within the training area.

St. Lambert's Church is the Lutheran town church in the town of Bergen in Celle district in Germany. This Classicist aisleless church was built in 1826. It is a three-naved building with low ceilings over the galleries and was extended eastwards in 1900. The separately standing wooden clock tower dates from the year 1728. Around 1900 the wooden barrel roof in the middle nave was decorated with ornamental, stencilled artwork that was removed again when the church was renovated in 1956. The dimensions of the roof remained the same, but a textile fabric was stuck to it to prevent the formation of cracks. The last major renovation work (internal and external) was carried out in 1981 and 1982.

Winsen an der Aller (German pronunciation: [ˌvɪnzn̩ an deːɐ̯ ˈalɐ] ) or Winsen (Aller) is a town in the district of Celle in the German state of Lower Saxony.

Offen is a village administered by the Lower Saxon town of Bergen in the northern part of Celle district on the Lüneburg Heath in North Germany.

The Bergen-Hohne Training Area (German: NATO-Truppenübungsplatz Bergen or Schießplatz Bergen-Hohne) 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 284 square kilometres (70,000 acres), which makes it the largest military training area in Germany. It was established by the German armed forces, the Wehrmacht, in 1935. At the end of the Second World War it was taken over by British occupying forces and some of its facilities used as a liberation camp for survivors of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, which was located on the edge of the training area near the town of Bergen. Under British control, the training area was steadily expanded and, since the 1960s, has also been used by the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) and other NATO troops.