High stone (east wood)

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Today the Hohe Stein lies in front of the church in Ostenholz

The Hohe Stein is a boulder in front of the church in Ostenholz in the Lüneburg Heath . Its inscription commemorates the resettlement of the population from villages in the Heidmark between 1936 and 1938 when the Bergen military training area was created . He is also called the giant from Hanglüß .

history

Resistance of the peasants in the Heidmark against the military training area Bergen

On March 16, 1935, Adolf Hitler lifted the restrictions of the Versailles Treaty with the law for the establishment of the Wehrmacht . "With the establishment of the army from 1934 onwards, very generous plans for the establishment of military training areas arose."

"In memory of the Heidjer willing to make sacrifices" - this is how the inscription on the Hohen Stein begins. But the heather farmers were not at all that willing to make sacrifices.

“When rumors increased in the summer of 1934 that a huge military training area was to be set up in the area between Fallingbostel and Bergen , the people there initially did not believe in it. Hadn't the Fuehrer repeatedly affirmed how important the farmers and their attachment to plaice were for Germany? He had spoken of blood and soil and the legacy of his fathers, and in 1933 he gave the National Socialist guarantee for the continued existence of farms with the Reichserbhofgesetz But the residents of the Heidmark had to find out that none of this counted when it came to the military and military economy. "

- Hinrich Baumann : The Heidmark. 2005, p. 62

In September 1934, farmers from Hohne wrote to Hitler. The district administrator of the Fallingbostel district turned to the district president in Lüneburg. The district farmer leader from Ostenholz invited to a meeting at the seven stone houses . On October 1, 1934, the farmers' representatives sent a telegram to "the Führer and Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler" with the "request for the preservation of the plaice and home". A delegation of farmers drove to Goslar for the Reichsbauerntag on October 2, 1934, after a mass rally at the seven stone houses for the following day had been described by the NSDAP district leader in Fallingbostel as "high and state treason" and forbidden. "Obviously, Berlin tried with its own tactical maneuvers and through the extended arm of the rural peasantry to 'calm down' the farmers of Heidmark and let them run into the void in order to gain time and create a fait accompli."

The mayor of the municipality of Wense , Ernst-August von der Wense, went to Berlin alone. On March 18, 1935, a delegation of 77 farmers from the Celle and Fallingbostel districts traveled to Berlin. As a last resort, farmers from Hohne and Manhorn tried to find a solution with financial means: They offered the Reich 327,500 Reichsmarks for "obtaining the necessary military training area in another area" and "on condition that the municipality is spared expropriations". Black flags were hung on the houses of those affected out of mourning at the impending loss of their homeland. This was then banned by the National Socialists under threat of punishment.

Nothing helped. A "Reichsumsiedlungsgesellschaft" was set up to organize the land tax for the military training area.

Start of shooting at the military training area

Boundaries of the evacuated former villages until 1936/38
Settled villages and farms in the Heidmark became devastation .

In December 1935 the construction of the camp for soldiers begins. A closed construction workers camp is set up. On July 6th and 8th, 1936, the first "artillery sharp shooting from positions outside the field" took place. Several forest fires broke out right at the start of the shooting. The seven stone houses were "restored to their original state" by the army administration. The burial of Hermann Löns , who died in France, was planned in the largest stone house in the megalithic group . Since the grave is located in the area of ​​the military training area, Löns was buried on August 2, 1935 in the Tietlinger juniper grove near Bad Fallingbostel.

Relocation of the former villages of the military training area

“With an area of ​​26,719 hectares, the Bergen military training area was the largest training area for the Wehrmacht in the entire German Reich. 3635 residents from 25 municipalities had to leave their homes for this. "

- Hinrich Baumann : The Heidmark. 2005, p. 113

3005 inhabitants from 386 farms in the Fallingbostel district and 630 inhabitants from 114 farms in the Celle district were relocated. 2260 of them (= 62% ). found a new home in the previous administrative district.

Farewell services were held for the resettlers in the parishes of Ostenholz, Düshorn , Dorfmark , Bergen and Fallingbostel.

Memorial stone of the training site headquarters

Location of the stone (on the hill)

Today the stone, which has a weight of about 230 tons , lies in  front of the Ostenholz Church with this inscription:

"The memory of the Heidjer who are willing to make sacrifices from the former villages of Hörsten, Hoppenstedt, Hohne, Hasselhorst, Hohnerode, Manhorn, Lohe, Gudehausen, Ostenholz, Ettenbostel, Oberhode, Benhorn, Hartem, Fahrenholz, Böstlingen, Pröbsten, Kolk, Sudbostel, Nordbostel, Örbke, Obereinzingen, Untereinzingen , Achterberg , Wense "

- The headquarters of the Tr.Üb.Pl. Bergen, March 1938

It has been known as the "Giant of Hanglüß" since ancient times, after its place of discovery, a hill near Hanglüß. The boulder probably came here in the Ice Age. The training ground commandantur dedicated it to the memory of the "Heidjer willing to make sacrifices" and added the inscription in 1938. When the field was used by NATO from 1958, it was in the area of ​​a shooting range. Therefore the commandant had the stone moved. In October 1962 he was brought out of the danger zone to the Ostenholzer Feldmark. Since 1969 it has had its place in front of the Ostenholz Church.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The name "Riese von Hanglüß" for the "Hohen Stein" becomes with Hinrich Baumann: The Heidmark. Change of a landscape. 2005, p. 157.
  2. ↑ Law for the Development of the Wehrmacht of March 16, 1935
  3. ↑ This is how Hinrich Baumann quotes: Die Heidmark. Change of a landscape. 2005, p. 61 Colonel General Baron von Fritsch.
  4. ↑ Hinrich Baumann: The Heidmark. Change of a landscape. 2005 shows on pp. 62–76 that the Heidjer from the Heidmark have left no stone unturned to prevent the Bergen military training area from being set up on their farms.
  5. ↑ Hinrich Baumann: The Heidmark. Change of a landscape. 2005, p. 67.
  6. ↑ Hinrich Baumann: The Heidmark. Change of a landscape. 2005, p. 73.
  7. ↑ Hinrich Baumann: The Heidmark. Change of a landscape. 2005, p. 74.
  8. ↑ At the funeral of Hermann Löns in the seven stone houses, the farmers are said to have rumored: "If he shouldn't hear anything, he could have stayed in France." (Hinrich Baumann: Die Heidmark. Change of a landscape. 2005, p. 86).
  9. ↑ Hinrich Baumann: The Heidmark. Change of a landscape. 2005, pp. 79-86.
  10. ↑ Actually there were only 18 villages, 7 places did not have to endure resettlements, just give up land.
  11. ↑ Calculated from information from Hinrich Baumann: Die Heidmark. Change of a landscape. 2005, p. 115.
  12. ↑ Hinrich Baumann published many photos, memories of those affected and other documents in his book "Die Heidmark" - including an essay by a 12-year-old student from Oberndorfmark (p. 141).
  13. ↑ The place Oerbke is written on the stone with "Ö".
  14. ↑ Hanglüß was a village on the Bergen military training area, which belonged to Obereinzingen . (see map of the former villages)
  15. ↑ Hinrich Baumann: The Heidmark. Change of a landscape. 2005, p. 157 f.

literature

  • Hinrich Baumann: The Heidmark. Change of a landscape. The history of the Bergen Training Area. Walsrode 2005, ISBN 3-00-017185-1 .

Web links

Coordinates: 52 ° 46 '30.9 "  N , 9 ° 43' 19.9"  E