Soltau - Lüneburg Training Area The Soltau - Lüneburg Training Area ( SLTA ) was a British and Canadian military training area in North Germany from 1963 to 1994 . It was governed by the Soltau - Lüneburg Agreement ( , SLA ) between the Federal Republic of Germany , the United Kingdom and Canada . The area was located in the Lüneburg Heath in the state of Lower Saxony and was used particularly by tank s and other armoured vehicle s . History . In spite of the establishment of the Bergen Training Area in 1935 and the two training areas in Munster ( 1893 and 1916 ) , the protected areas of the Lüneburg Heath Nature Reserve were initially out - of - bounds for military purposes . During the Second World War , however , German military installations were built here , including a " Luftwaffe " observation post on the Wilseder Berg , a satellite hospital for the city of Hamburg in Wintermoor and a military airfield near Reinsehlen . After the Second World War , Canadian forces and units of the British Army of the Rhine conducted military exercises on the Lüneburg Heath from 1945 as part of their occupation rights . There was initially no defined training area . The site of the former German military airfield became Reinsehlen Camp and was used continuously by British armoured units from 1950 . In the early years , the occupying forces continually extended their exercise area until they reached as far as the Wilseder Berg , but they pulled back again in the late 1940s . From 1948 they no longer exercised all year round , but restricted training to eight months of the year . The president of the Nature Reserve Society ( " Verein Naturschutzpark " ) or VNP , Alfred Toepfer , fought for the preservation of the reserves , but the British commander - in - chief only offered farmland and grassland areas that were desperately needed to feed the population . In the wake of the integration of West Germany into the West , the country joined NATO in 1955 , whereupon the occupation statute ceased to operate . The Paris Peace Treaties contained a new regulation for the presence of foreign troops in West Germany , which henceforth became known as " Sending States ' Forces " , stationed in Germany to help defend the country against possible invasion by the Soviet - controlled Warsaw Pact . In 1956 the Canadians largely stopped exercising in this area . That year the British withdrew from an area of 600 hectares near Haverbeck , after major protests by the locals . Agreement . On 3 August 1959 the Federal Republic of Germany , Canada and the United Kingdom signed a special agreement in Bonn permitting exercises in the area of Soltau - Lüneburg in order to be able to train to defend Germany in the event of attack during the Cold War . The agreement was included in Article 19 of the NATO Status of Forces Agreement ( SOFA ) . Due to its protracted ratification , the law was not published in the statute book until 1961 and it went into force on 1 July 1963 as the Soltau - Lüneburg Agreement ( " Soltau - Lüneburg - Abkommen " ) . In 1965 a Standing Committee for the Soltau - Lüneburg Agreement ( " Ständiger Ausschuss für das Soltau - Lüneburg - Abkommen " ) was formed . It handled complaints , strove to balance the interests of different parties and coordinated civilian and military issues . The agreement permitted stationed troops to conduct exercises all - year - round within the specified area . Villages and farmsteads were not to be used as military objectives and armoured vehicles could not move on Sundays or public holidays . Location . The Soltau - Lüneburg Agreement designated an area , 40 km long and 10 km wide , between the towns of Soltau and Lüneburg , with an area of about 34 , 500 hectares , in which some 26 , 000 people lived . The federal government rented about 12 % of the area , of which the stationed forces were given about 4 , 600 hectares as red areas for their continuous and unrestricted use . 3 , 700 hectares of red area belonged to the present - day county of Heidekreis , the remaining 900 ha to the county of Lüneburg . Before the agreement the military had been using 48 , 000 hectares for training purposes . The red areas were set aside purely for the stationed troops , the Bundeswehr were not permitted to exercise on them . Impact . Around 1 , 800 landowners were required , under the agreement , to make their property available for military purposes . With over 1 , 600 hectares , the Nature Reserve Society was one of the landowners affected and they refused to accept the Soltau - Lüneburg Agreement from the outset , although their opposition came to nothing . Another 1 , 600 hectares belonged to private landowners . In 1970 , several landowners were allowed to return their estates to agricultural use . In the mid - 1970s , the VNP unsuccessfully sued , citing the unconstitutionality of the agreement before the county court in Lüneburg . As a result of armoured vehicle training , the heathland of the red areas increasingly resembled a desert . The areas were not , however , placed out - of - bounds like a normal military training area and the public could enter them . In a few cases there were accidents as a result of visitors tampering with training munitions . No live firing was permitted in the area , however . During the 1970s , an average of 1 , 500 armoured vehicles and 30 , 000 soldiers exercised in the training area each year under the terms of the agreement . As a result , traffic on the local roads was heavy due to troop movements and there was an increased risk of accidents . The local population had to put up with noise , dust and vibration . In addition , the harvests were sometimes affected and roads damaged by the movement of heavy military loads . However , significant compensation for the damage caused was regularly paid by both the British and German governments in accordance with the SOFA . Protests . In Schneverdingen a citizen ' s initiative was begun in 1986 to reduce the military impact in the Lüneburg Heath . They gathered 13 , 000 signatures demanding the end of the Soltau - Lüneburg Agreement . Its members organised many protests . In 1988 they collected around 100 oil drums from the red areas and protested to the Lower Saxon parliament in Hanover . In 1990 they obstructed the railway ramp at Reinsehlen Camp to prevent the off - loading of tanks . In 1991 , the blockade of an underpass near the camp was set up to prevent tanks entering the heath . In another citizen ' s initiative was started in Amelinghausen in 1988 to reduce military exercises . In 1992 , both movements , together with other environmental organisations , demanded that the minister president of Lower Saxony , Gerhard Schröder , put an end to the exercises and the agreement . End of the Agreement . In 1989 , at the end of the Cold War , the Soltau - Lüneburg Agreement was renegotiated by defence ministers , Gerhard Stoltenberg , and Tom King , in order to reduce the impact of exercises on the local population . In 1990 , a break in training of several weeks was agreed during the time when the heath was in bloom during the peak tourist period of August and September . In addition no tanks were permitted to use the red areas on Sundays and public holidays . Villages were given a 400 metre wide buffer zone from armoured exercises and tanks were not permitted to drive through them at night . After German reunification , the two defence ministers , Stoltenberg and King , reached an agreement on 17 October 1991 for the cessation of training in the heath . On 31 July 1994 the Soltau - Lüneburg Agreement ran out and the last red areas were returned to the VNP . They have subsequently restored the areas with the assistance of the Federation .