Benefeld is part of the municipality of

Walsrode Walsrode (; ) is a town in the district of Heidekreis, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The former municipality Bomlitz was merged into Walsrode in January 2020. History Middle Ages 986 Foundation of Walsrode Abbey by Count Walo. The first recorded ...

in the Lower Saxon Heidekreis district in north

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Benefeld has a population of 2,232, although its parish covers just 2 km² (as at 2008).

Geography

Location

Benefeld lies in the southwestern

Lüneburg Heath Lüneburg Heath (, ) is a large area of heath (habitat), heath, geest, and woodland in the northeastern part of the state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany. It forms part of the hinterland for the cities of Hamburg, Hanover and Bremen and is ...

within the natural region of the Fallingbostel Loam Plateaus (''Fallingbosteler Lehmplatten''), an area characterised by very narrow valleys which roughly corresponds to the cultural region of the ''

Heidmark The Heidmark () is an area of the Lüneburg Heath, much of which has not been accessible to the population since about 1935–1936. The establishment of a large military training area (''Truppenübungsplatzes Bergen'') by the German armed forces, ...

''. Together with the village of Bomlitz, 1 km to the east, Benefeld formed the heart of the former municipality of Bomlitz.

Neighbouring parishes

Its neighbouring villages - clockwise from the north - are Jarlingen, Bommelsen, Kroge, Bomlitz, Uetzingen and Hünzingen (all part of the town of

Rivers

The parish of Benefeld lies on the two largest tributaries of the River Böhme, the Bomlitz to the east and the Warnau to the west.

History

The village of Benefeld coalesced from several industrial settlements and workers' camps and was named after the farm of Benefeld in the Bomlitz valley (its name probably meant "field of bones"). These settlements were built after 1935, as part of the expansion of the Bomlitz explosives industry (forerunner of today's Dow Wolff Cellulosics) on the plateau of Lohheide, favourable because of its height above the water table. The factory facilities of Eibia & Co., which were partly underground, have now been largely levelled and the site is once again a recreation area. Besides being home to Eibia's workers' accommodation, in the fall of 1944 for six weeks, Benefeld was also a

satellite A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...

of the

Bergen-Belsen concentration camp Bergen-Belsen (), or Belsen, was a Nazi concentration camp in what is today Lower Saxony in Northern Germany, northern Germany, southwest of the town of Bergen, Lower Saxony, Bergen near Celle. Originally established as a prisoner of war camp, ...

, with about 750 women. Since its merger into its parent municipality in 1968 the hitherto independent parish of Benefeld has been one of eight others subordinate to the municipality of Bomlitz.

Infrastructure

Benefeld has a community centre, where facilities are available for cultural and social clubs to meet and hold events.

Transport

Benefeld lies away from regional communication routes. The B 27 autobahn runs past 9 km to the southwest, the A 7 8 km to the southeast. The B 440 federal road from Dorfmark via

Visselhövede Visselhövede () is a town in the district of Rotenburg (district), Rotenburg in Lower Saxony, Germany. Nearby towns include the district capital Rotenburg an der Wümme, Rotenburg, Walsrode and Verden, Germany, Verden. Larger cities within a 100&n ...

Rotenburg (Wümme) Rotenburg may refer to: *Rotenburg (district), Lower Saxony, Germany *Rotenburg an der Wümme, capital of the district *Rotenburg an der Fulda, near Kassel in Hesse *Hersfeld-Rotenburg, a district in Hesse, Germany See also * Rotenberg (disambigua ...

runs to the northeast, about 3 km away.

External links

The Municipality of Bomlitz (including overview of its parishes)

{{Borough of Walsrode Heidmark Walsrode