 heidekreis ("heath district") is a district (landkreis) in lower saxony, germany. it is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of harburg, lÃ¼neburg, uelzen, celle, hanover, nienburg, verden and rotenburg. ==history== historically the region belonged to the duchy of brunswick-lÃ¼neburg and its successor states. the district was established in 1977 by merging the former districts of soltau and fallingbostel as soltau-fallingbostel (). on 1 august 2011 it was renamed to heidekreis. ==geography== the district includes the western half of the lÃ¼neburg heath (lÃ¼neburger heide). since this landscape is so characteristic for the district, it calls itself "the heath district". the capital is bad fallingbostel, although it has only 11,800 inhabitants and is only the fifth largest town in the district. ==coat of arms== the coat of arms displays: * in the upper half the heraldic lion of the duchy of brunswick-lÃ¼neburg * in the lower half a megalithic grave ==towns and municipalities== {| ! align=left width=33%|towns ! colspan=2 align=center width=67%|samtgemeinden |- valign=top || #bad fallingbostel #munster #schneverdingen #soltau #walsrode free municipalities #bispingen #bomlitz #neuenkirchen #wietzendorf unincorporated area #osterheide || *1. ahlden # ahlden # eickeloh # grethem # hademstorf # hodenhagen1 *2. rethem/aller # bÃ¶hme # frankenfeld # hÃ¤uslingen # rethem1, 2 || *3. schwarmstedt # buchholz # essel # gilten # lindwedel # schwarmstedt1 |- |||colspan=2 align=center|1seat of the samtgemeinde; 2town |} == culture and places of interest == cultural matte
Districts_of_Lower_Saxony Heidekreis