Bad Fallingbostel (Northern Low Saxon: Bad Fambossel) is the district town (Kreisstadt) of the Heidekreis district in the German state of Lower Saxony. Since 1976 the town has had a state-recognised Kneipp spa and has held the title of Bad since 2002. It has close ties to Walsrode, a few miles to the west. Until 2015, there was a British Army base in Bad Fallingbostel, It also hosted Defender 2020, the largest US Army/NATO exercise since the Cold War. The town has around 11,000 inhabitants. Geography Location Bad Fallingbostel lies on the Böhme river in the southern part of the Lüneburg Heath between Soltau and Walsrode in the Heidmark. Sub-divisions The administrative borough of Bad Fallingbostel is also responsible for the villages of Dorfmark, Riepe, Vierde, Jettebruch and Mengebostel as well as the town itself. The core city is divided into the following districts: In the west: Idingen, Am Wiethop, Am Rooksberg In the north: Adolphsheide, Große Heide, Lehmhorst, Klint In the east: Ober and Unter-Grünhagen In the south: Am Weinberg, industrial areas at the highway, Pröhlsfeld, Oerbker Berg and Ost History Bad Fallingbostel was first mentioned as “Vastulingeburstalle“ in 993 and has therefore a recorded history of over 1,000 years. Originally it was a purely agricultural settlement, due to agriculture being the basis for life of the inhabitants of the old-Saxon Loingau. The name “Vastulingeburstalle“ means either “House of the Vastulo“ or “House of the Vastulingians“. Otto III drew the borders between the dioceses Hildesheim and Minden during that time. The Vogtei Fallingbostel (bailiwick) was established around 1300. It was later also called Amt Fallingbostel and it existed until the 19th century. In 1838 Heinrich von Quintus-Icilius, the assessor of the Vogtei, founded the “Sparcasse für die Amtsvogtei Fallingbostel”, one of the first rural savings banks in the Kingdom of Hannover. In 1866 the newly Prussian province of Hannover was divided into administrative districts, one of them was the district Fallingbostel. Fallingbostel was awarded its status as a town in 1949. During World War II Fallingbostel was the site of two POW (prisoner-of-war) camps, Stalag XI-B and Stalag XI-D / 357. Demographics Religion The majority of the church-going Christian residents of the town belong to the Lutheran church. Within the borough there are two church parishes: Fallingbostel parish: the Church of St. Dionysius with 5,598 parishioners and the Peace Church (Friedenskirche) in Bommelsen (municipality of Bomlitz) with 625 members