Harburg is a district (Landkreis) in Lower Saxony, Germany. It takes its name from the town of Harburg upon Elbe, which used to be the capital of the district but is now part of Hamburg. It is bounded by the districts of Lüneburg, Heidekreis, Rotenburg and Stade, by the City of Hamburg and the State of Schleswig-Holstein.
Lüneburg Heath is a large area of heath, geest, and woodland in the northeastern part of the state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany. It forms part of the hinterland for the cities of Hamburg, Hanover and Bremen and is named after the town of Lüneburg. Most of the area is a nature reserve. Northern Low Saxon is still widely spoken in the region.
Soltau is a mid-sized town in the Lüneburg Heath in the district of Heidekreis, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It has around 22,000 inhabitants.
The Hamburger Verkehrsverbund (HVV) is a company coordinating public transport in and around Hamburg, Germany. Its main objectives are to provide a unified fare system, requiring only a single ticket for journeys with transfers between different operating companies, and to facilitate and speed up travel by harmonising the individual companies' schedules. At its inception in 1965, HVV was the first organisation of this kind worldwide.
Buchholz in der Nordheide is the largest town in the district of Harburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 25 km southwest of Hamburg.
Neu Wulmstorf (help·info) is a municipality ('Einheitsgemeinde') in the district of Harburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It changed its name on December 11, 1964 from ″Wulmstorf″ to ″Neu Wulmstorf″. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region.
Hanstedt is a municipality in the district of Harburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 35 km south of Hamburg, and 25 km west of Lüneburg.
Bispingen is a municipality in the Heidekreis district of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is a popular tourist destination with several holiday/theme parks. Its territory also includes the nature preserve of the Lüneburg Heath around the Wilseder Berg.
Handeloh is a municipality in the district of Harburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany.
Hanstedt is a Samtgemeinde in the district of Harburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Its seat is in the village Hanstedt.
At 169 m above sea level (NN), the Wilseder Berg is the highest point on the Lüneburg Heath in North Germany. Due to its position in the middle of the nature reserve Lüneburg Heath it is a popular tourist destination, especially in the period when the heather is in flower.
Lüneburg Heath Nature Park is a nature park, a form of protected environment, located in the Lüneburg Heath in northern Germany.
The Lüneburg Heath Nature Reserve is one of the oldest and largest nature reserves in Germany, and the oldest and largest in Lower Saxony. It was first established on 29 December 1921 when an area of four square miles was declared a nature park by the Prussian government.
The Harburg Hills are a low ridge in the northeastern part of the German state of Lower Saxony and the southern part of the city state of Hamburg. They are up to 155 metres (509 ft) high.
The Brunsberg is a 129 metres (423 ft) high hill on the northwestern edge of the Lüneburg Heath in northern Germany. It lies in the Brunsberg Nature Reserve, reserve no. LÜ 010 with an area of 60.6 hectares, near Sprötze between the towns of Buchholz in der Nordheide and Tostedt. From its summit, covered with heather and grazed by moorland sheep, there is a good view over the neighbouring heaths and in good visibility the Wilseder Berg, 169 metres (554 ft), and Heidepark at Soltau can be seen to the south. To the southwest the tower of St. John's Church (Johanneskirche) can be seen in Tostedt. The view towards Hamburg is blocked by the Harburg Hills. Not far from the top is the holiday home for the youth organisation Deutsche Schreberjugend Landesverband Hamburg eV.
The Heath Railway is a regional railway line in North Germany that crosses the Lüneburg Heath from which it derives its name. Most of the line is unelectrified and single-tracked. It links Buchholz in der Nordheide with Hanover, the capital city of Lower Saxony. Together with the east-west Uelzen–Langwedel railway, this north-south line is one of the two most important railways on the heath.
The Heide Express is the name used by the Lüneburg Transport Society or AVL to market special railway trips with their historic trains on the East Hanoverian Railways (OHE) railway network in northern Germany.
The Hanover–Hamburg railway is one of the most important railway lines in Lower Saxony and Germany. It links the Lower Saxon state capital of Hanover with Hamburg, running through Celle, Uelzen and Lüneburg.
The Leine-Heide Cycle Path is a long-distance cycle path in Germany that has a total length of 410 kilometres (250 mi) and runs through the German federal states of Thuringia, Lower Saxony and Hamburg. Until 2009, it was called the Leine Cycle Path, after the River Leine; it ended north of the river's confluence with the Aller in Hodenhagen. Heide (‘heath’) refers to the Lüneburg Heath.
Soltau (Han) station is in the town of Soltau in the German state of Lower Saxony, located in the centre of the Lüneburg Heath. As a junction station on two railway lines, Hannover Hbf – Buchholz (Heath Railway) and Bremen Hbf – Uelzen (Uelzen–Langwedel railway), it is a central transport hub of the region and serves commuters and visitors to the Lüneburg Heath as a destination and transfer station.
