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1844735

Bergen, Lower Saxony

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1844735

Bergen, Lower Saxony

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Bergen, Lower Saxony

Bergen (German pronunciation: [ˈbɛʁɡn̩] ; 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.

Bergen is located in the north of Celle district on the Lüneburg Heath, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The Bundesstraße 3 (B3) passed through the municipal territory from north to south.

Bergen is bordered by (from the north, clockwise): Wietzendorf (located in Heidekreis district), Südheide, Eschede, Celle, Winsen an der Aller and the unincorporated area Lohheide (all in Celle district).

Bergen was first mentioned in the records in 1197 and was the centre of a legislative and administrative region, the seat of the district sheriff (Amtsvogtei) and, later, the Royal Hanoverian Office. After the annexation of the Kingdom of Hanover by Prussia in 1866 the Amt Bergen, formed in 1852, was incorporated into Fallingbostel district, which had been created in 1867. In the district reorganisation of 1885, the Amt was transferred into the newly formed Celle district.

If the development of Bergen was rather slow during the Middle Ages and the early part of the Modern Age, due mainly to fires in 1354, 1585 and 1796, the agricultural reform in the 19th century and the town's connection to the Celle–Soltau railway led to far-reaching changes. In particular, the creation of the military training area that is today the Bergen-Hohne Training Area in 1935 encouraged the beginning of a period of urbanisation that has led to Bergen's transformation from an agriculturally based village into the small town it is today, characterised by trade and commerce with agriculture having largely lost its significance.

The Bergen-Belsen concentration camp is located near Bergen.

Today the town of Bergen acts as a municipality in the northern part of Celle district and is, except for Celle, the only political entity in the district that has been granted the status of a town (in this case in 1957). In the Gebietsreform (municipal reorganization) of 1971, Bergen was given responsibility for the Stadtteile of Becklingen, Belsen, Bleckmar, Diesten, Dohnsen, Eversen, Hagen, Hassel, Nindorf, Offen, Sülze and Wardböhmen. That significantly increased the size of its population and its area. The area of the original town of Bergen was 11 square kilometres (4.2 sq mi); after the administrative reform it grew to 163 km2.

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