Overview
- Brief Narrative
- 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.
- Title
- RHINE ARMY RANGES (HOHNE)
- Date
-
publication:
1942-1953
- Geography
-
depiction:
Bergen (Celle, Germany)
- Credit Line
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Joseph Pallone
- Markings
- front, top left corner, printed, dark gray ink : GERMANY 1:25.000 UTM GRID
front, top margin, printed, dark gray ink : FIRST EDITION
front, top right corner, printed, dark gray ink : Refer to this map as:- / BAOR (misc) 105 A (inscription, printed, A) / First Edition
front, bottom left corner, printed, dark gray ink : Published by Survey Branch, HQ BAOR, April 1953. / first Edition, 1953. / Refer to this map as:- / BAOR (misc) 105 A (inscription, printed, red ink) / First Edition / 5284/S.P.C. RE. (BAOR)/April 53/5000
front, bottom right corner, printed, dark gray ink : Copied from German 1:25.000 Sheet Truppenübungsplatz Bergen dated Nov. 1942. / Reproduced by Survey Production Centre RE(BAOR) 1953.
front, key left column, printed, dark gray ink : REFERENCE / BOUNDARIES: International, Provincial / District, Town or parish / RAILWAYS: Normal gauge 2 or more tracks / Normal gauge single track / Narrow gauge / Tramway or Mineral railway / Cable railway / ROADS: Motor highways – Reichsautobahnen / (independent of road system) Two metalled / carriage ways, each 7.5 metres wide. / - Under construction / metalled 6 metres wide or over / metalled 4-6 metres wide / metalled less than 4 metres wide / Minor roads and cart track unmetalled / Lanes, tracks, paths / Deciduous forest. Coniferous forest / Mixed wood / Heath. Peat cuttings / Meadow (Swamp) / Vineyard. Hopfield / Park / Cemetery / Scrub, reafforestation / Sand or gravel / Broken unstable ground / Embankment Wire fence / Rocky cliff / Hedge Low bank with hedge / Dry ditch Fence / Monument / Forestmasters house Foresters lodge / W/T Station / W/T Station with tower over 200 ft. high / Pit, Quarry Bench mark / Shrine, Chapel Church / Spotheight (in metres) Kilometre stone / Mine Chimney / Trigonometrical Point / Watch Tower Water Tower / Water mill Sign Post / Wind pump Windmill / Contours / Heights in metres / Bridges, etc. : / Iron, stone, wood, pontoon, footbridge, ferries, ford / Canal, weir, lock, sluice / Drainage ditch, dry river bed / Well, spring / Lighthouse, beacon
front, key box right column, printed, dark gray ink : INDEX TO ADJOINING SHEETS / 3024 3025 / 3124 3125 / 3224 3225 / REVISED FROM AIR PHOTOGRAPHS / AND GROUND CHCKED IN MARCH 1951 / UTM Grid / Grid North is 0°40’E of True North - Contributor
-
Subject:
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
Publisher: British Army of the Rhine (BAOR)
Producer: Survey Production Centre (Royal Engineers)
- Biography
-
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was founded in 1949, in the aftermath of World War II. Originally an alliance of 12 Western European and North American countries, the alliance has expanded to 29 member states. The alliance was created for the collective defense of member states from attack through political and military means. The political headquarters are located in Brussels, Belgium. The military command structure is headed by two Strategic Commands: the Allied Command Operations (ACO), based in Mons, Belgium, and the Allied Command Transformation (ACT), based in Norfolk, Virginia, United States.
The British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) was a British occupation force stationed in Germany after both the First and Second World Wars; the second incarnation was formed on August 25, 1945. During the Cold War, the BAOR helped defend West Germany against communism and the Soviet Union. The BAOR had several garrisons in West Germany, including one at Bergen-Hohne, near the former Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. In November 1952, NATO created the Headquarters of Northern Army Group (NORTHAG), which incorporated the BAOR. In 1954, the headquarters of the BAOR moved from Bad Oeynhausen to Rheindalen in East Germany. In 1957, the force reduced its size to 64,000. BAOR was disbanded in 1994.
Physical Details
- Language
- English
- Classification
-
Information Forms
- Category
-
Maps
- Object Type
-
Military maps (lcsh)
- Genre/Form
- Maps.
- Physical Description
- Rectangular sheet of off-white paper with multiple layers of printed maps depicting the Bergen-Hohne region of Germany. The base map is printed in dark gray ink, surrounded by a dark gray border. The map is divided into a grid, 21 squares across by 28.5 down. The vertical lines are numbered left to right, from 546 000 m. E. to 565, and the horizontal lines are numbered bottom to top from 5840 000 m. N. to 5868. Printed over the base map in black, red, green, and yellow ink are additional boundary markers and symbols. Set within the top left corner of the map is a reference key inside a large rectangular border. The top portion is printed in dark gray ink, matching the base map, while the lower portion is a legend for the multi-colored overprinting. On the back, there is a handwritten inscription in black ink. The paper is creased with overall staining on the front and back and tears along the top and right edges.
- Dimensions
- overall: Height: 47.500 inches (120.65 cm) | Width: 34.625 inches (87.948 cm)
- Materials
- overall : paper, ink
- Inscription
- front, top center, printed, red ink : RHINE ARMY RANGES (HOHNE)
front, top right corner, printed, red ink : ((marking, printed, dark gray ink) Refer to this map as:-BAOR (misc) 105) A
front, within map, top right corner, handwritten, black ink : 1953
front, bottom left corner, printed, red ink : ((marking, printed, dark gray ink) Refer to this map as:-BAOR (misc) 105) A
front, bottom right corner, printed, red ink : Overprinted from information supplied by G (Trg) I. Corps. April 1953
front, key, printed, black ink : LEGEND / RANGE BOUNDARY / Western Part left blank, boundary not yet determined / Camp Boundary / Boundary of Driver/Training Area / Boundary of Tank-Corridors / Boundary of outside Gun-Deployment Areas / Boundary of Danger Area / Tank Routes / Inhabited Buildings or out of Bounds Areas / Firing Points / Blockhouse with engine / Splinterproof Observation Post
back, top center, handwritten, black ink : 1953
Rights & Restrictions
- Conditions on Access
- No restrictions on access
- Conditions on Use
- No restrictions on use
Keywords & Subjects
- Topical Term
- North Atlantic Treaty Organization--Maps. Military training camps. Military training camps--Germany--Bergen (Celle)--History. Military training camps--Germany--Maps. Bergen (Celle, Germany)--Maps. Great Britain. Army. British Army of the Rhine. Series BAOR misc.
- Geographic Name
- Bergen (Celle, Germany)
Administrative Notes
- Legal Status
- Permanent Collection
- Provenance
- The map was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2018 by Joseph Pallone.
- Record last modified:
- 2023-08-25 08:38:23
- This page:
- https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn619015
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Also in Joseph Pallone collection
The collection consists of two over-printed maps of the area around Bergen-Hohne, Germany, acquired by an American soldier stationed in Germany during the 1980s.
Date: after 1942 November-before 1962 December 18
Map of Bergen-Hohne NATO training area acquired by an American soldier stationed in Germany during the 1980s
Object
A 1961 map of the Bergen-Hohne region, with an overprinted boundary 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 purple, 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. An estimated 50,000 people died while imprisoned or within months of leaving the concentration camp. 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. 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.
