The Sennelager Training Area (German: ) is a

military training area A military training area, training area (Australia, Ireland, UK) or training centre (Canada) is land set aside specifically to enable military forces to train and exercise for combat. Training areas are usually out of bounds to the general public, ...

in Germany, under the control of

British Forces The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, s ...

based in

Paderborn Paderborn (; Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader and ''Born'', an old German term for t ...

Garrison. It covers an area of , and belongs to the

German Government The Federal Cabinet or Federal Government (german: link=no, Bundeskabinett or ') is the chief executive body of the Federal Republic of Germany. It consists of the Federal Chancellor and cabinet ministers. The fundamentals of the cabinet's or ...

, which discharges its responsibility through its

Institute for Federal Real Estate An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes can ...

. The area was first used for military purposes at the end of the 19th century. The

Field Marshal Rommel Barracks, Augustdorf The Field Marshal Rommel Barracks, Augustdorf (german: Generalfeldmarschall-Rommel-Kaserne, often abbreviated to ''GFM-Rommel-Kaserne'') is a German Army military base located in Augustdorf in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and the ...

is located nearby.

Location

The training area lies north of

, on the western edge of the

Teutoburg Forest The Teutoburg Forest ( ; german: Teutoburger Wald ) is a range of low, forested hills in the German states of Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. Until the 17th century, the official name of the hill ridge was Osning. It was first renamed th ...

in the middle of the

Senne Senne may refer to: Places * Senne (Germany), a natural region of Germany *Senne, a district of Bielefeld, Germany * Senne (river), a river of Belgium *Senné (disambiguation), places in Slovakia People with the name *Yōkō Senne, a 13th-centur ...

, at a height of between and . The Stapel Exercise Area in Lage, north of

Augustdorf Augustdorf is a municipality in the Lippe district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It has an area of 42.18 km² and about 10,100 inhabitants (2020). History In 1775 Simon August, Count of Lippe-Detmold Simon August, Count of Lippe (12 ...

, also belongs to the Sennelager Training Area, and covers some . The land on which the training area is established falls within the boundaries of the following towns and villages: (clockwise beginning in the north):

Detmold Detmold () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with a population of . It was the capital of the small Principality of Lippe from 1468 until 1918 and then of the Free State of Lippe until 1947. Today it is the administrative center of ...

Schlangen Schlangen is a municipality in the Lippe district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Schlangen has about 9.000 inhabitants (2013) and enjoys relative prosperity. Located a few kilometers away from Detmold, the municipality stretches from the edge ...

(

Lippe Lippe () is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Herford, Minden-Lübbecke, Höxter, Paderborn, Gütersloh, and district-free Bielefeld, which forms the region Ostwestfalen-Lippe. The d ...

Bad Lippspringe Bad Lippspringe () is a town in the district of Paderborn, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Bad Lippspringe is situated on the western slope of the Teutoburger Wald, approximately north-east of Paderborn. The river Lippe has its sour ...

Hövelhof Hövelhof is a municipality in the district Paderborn, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Since 14 March 2012, Hövelhof can use the official additive ''Sennegemeinde'' (English: "Senne municipality"). Geography Hövelhof is located in the Sen ...

( Paderborn district), and Schloß Holte-Stukenbrock (

Gütersloh district Gütersloh () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, in the area of Westphalia and the administrative region of Detmold. Gütersloh is the administrative centre for a district of the same name and has a population of 100,194 peo ...

History

Current and future use

The

Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010 The Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010 was announced by the newly formed Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government of the United Kingdom in May 2010, and published on 19 October 2010. The previous major review of UK defence strate ...

concluded that the British Forces Germany would close the Sennelager military training area, and repatriate all troops and equipment back to the United Kingdom by 2020. In November 2021, due to increasing threats of potential hostility from Russia, the

British Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...

updated their stance to reflect the increased level of threat. The

defence secretary A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

announced the British Army would return to Germany to form one of three land hubs for the Army. The British Army is to base around 250 tanks and armoured vehicles in Germany, to be ready to respond to a potential Russian invasion.

Gallery

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

Forces bases: ''Truppenübungsplatz Senne''
— at Streitkraeftebasis.de, via Archive.org
Royal Air Force Sport Parachute Association - Finding A Dropzone
— at RAF.MoD.uk, via Archive.org

— (''en'') Paderborner Land Biological Station – Conservation on the Sennelager Training Area — at Biologische-Station-Paderborner-Land.de, via Archive.org
Stadt Bad Lippspringe – Sperrzeiten Truppenübungsplatz Senne
— (''en'') City of Bad Lippspringe – Closing times for the Senne military training area — Bad-Lippspringe.com, via Archive.org Military training areas in Germany Buildings and structures in Paderborn (district) {{NorthRhineWestphalia-geo-stub