Bispingen

Bispingen
Coat of arms
Bispingen
Location of Bispingen within Heidekreis district
Coordinates:
Country	Germany
State	Lower Saxony
District	Heidekreis
Government
• Mayor	Sabine Schlüter
Area
• Total	128.55 km2 (49.63 sq mi)
Population (2013-12-31)
• Total	6,241
• Density	49/km2 (130/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	29646
Dialling codes	05194
Vehicle registration	SFA
Website	www.bispingen.de

Valentin Ruths (1825–1905): Wilseder Höhe

Dat ole Huus in Wilsede

Bispingen SnowDome

Bispingen is a municipality in the Heidekreis district of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is a popular tourist destination with several holiday/theme parks. Its territory also includes the nature preserve of the Lüneburg Heath around the Wilseder Berg.

Geography

Location

Bispingen is located on the River Luhe and is approximately 15 km (9.3 mi) northeast of Soltau, or 50 km (31 mi) south of Hamburg. Bispingen lies near interchange 43 of the A 7 motorway.

Subdivisions

• Bispingen
• Hützel
• Steinbeck an der Luhe (Steinbeck/Luhe)
• Behringen
• Volkwardingen
• Hörpel
• Borstel
• Haverbeck (Nieder- and Oberhaverbeck)
• Wilsede, heath village at the foot of the Wilseder Berg; population: ~35

Neighbouring villages and towns

• Schneverdingen
• Undeloh
• Egestorf
• Soderstorf
• Rehlingen
• Munster
• Soltau

Economy

Bispingen is popular with tourists as a local recreation area and nature reserve.

Places of interest

• Wilseder Berg, the highest hill on the Lüneburg Heath
• Dat ole Huus, a Low German house in Wilsede, one of the oldest open-air museums in Germany; built c. 1540, renovated 1742, moved to Wilsede 1907
• de, a landscape garden with hunting lodge and Montagnetto model castle
• Burial ground in Volkwardingen with Bronze Age tumuli
• de ("Old Church") dating to 1353, made from boulders; used for baptisms, weddings and other services as well as concerts
• Treppenspeicher in Volkwardingen, one of the oldest of this type of storage barn in the Lüneburg Heath, built in 1600 and 1702, restored in 2001
• Kart Centre, owned by racing driver Ralf Schumacher
• SnowDome Bispingen provides indoor skiing and snowboarding. It opened in autumn 2006
• Bispinger Heide holiday park, part of the Center Parcs chain

Notable people

• de, founder of the firm, Grube KG Forstgerätestelle, which makes forestry equipment.

Gallery

• 

  Farmstead in Wilsede

• 

  Wilsede

• 

  The Wilseder Berg

• 

  Mad House, the upside down house

Further reading

• Heinrich Schulz: Chronik von Wilsede, Stuttgart, 1967

External links

• Bispingen travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Municipal website