Map of Bergen-Hohne NATO training area acquired by an American soldier stationed in Germany during the 1980s

Rhine Army Ranges (Hohne) map with overprinting, acquired by an American soldier stationed in Germany during the 1980s

Object

A 1953 map of the Bergen-Hohne region, with multi-colored overprinting of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) training area, acquired by an American soldier stationed in Germany during the 1980s. Overprinted maps are often made prior to or during hostilities. They provide military units with the most up-to-date intelligence and information, when there is insufficient time to fully revise or create a new map. Along the bottom right edge of the NATO range, outlined in yellow and black, is the village of Belsen, located next to the “East Camp” of a former Wehrmacht training complex, founded in 1934. Southwest of the installation was the complex’s construction camp, which was a prisoner of war (POW) camp in 1940, and became Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1943. Following the liberation of Bergen-Belsen on April 15, 1945, British forces took control of the area and set up 14,000 emergency hospital beds in the military complex. On August 25, 1945, the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) was formed, stationing 80,000 soldiers in Germany. In 1949, the NATO military alliance was formed to counter the communist military threat of Eastern Europe. NATO continued to use the Bergen-Hohne region as a training range. In November 1952, NATO created the Headquarters of Northern Army Group (NORTHAG), which incorporated the BAOR. The British army maintained a garrison at the Bergen-Hohne military complex until 2015, and as the largest military training area in Germany, with 70,000 acres, it is still used as an active training range for international forces.