--- title: "Hermannsburg, Nature Park Südheide: In the footsteps of the Great Wildfire" url: "https://www.celle-tourismus.de/en/tour/wandern-auf-den-spuren-des-grossen-waldbrandes" description: "The W11 hikes \"On the trail of the great wildfire\" begin at the Angelbecksteich hiking car park and illustrate how nature reconquered the landscape after a wildfire disaster.The WildfireDuring the wildfire disaster in the districts of Celle and Gifhorn in 1975, the forests in the area of the hiking trail burned down to the ground. Today there is again an extensive forest area and only the comparatively young trees reveal something of the dramatic past. How could this huge fire happen?There were various reasons leading to the devastating fire disaster in the southern heath, which caused the deaths of several firefighters and devastated more than 7,000 hectares of forest. The summer of 1975 was very hot and dry. The region's coniferous forests had dried up and had a lot of deadwood from a hurricane in 1972. The dry resinous wood of the pines caught fire easily under these conditions. Exact causes of the fire could only be determined in a few cases. Negligent or deliberate torching and flying sparks from railway traffic were suspected.It had a fatal effect that the sources of the fire were difficult to reach for firefighters via the unpaved forest and heath paths and that hardly any extinguishing water was available in the remote areas. The water had to be transported over long distances. In the area of railway tracks, for example between Eschede and Garßen, the Hannover railway fire brigade could be deployed with its fire-fighting train. Four tank cars and one flat car were available for this purpose. Each tank car had a capacity of 45,000 litres of water. The tank fire engine was transported on the flat wagon. Two of the tank cars were always filled with water. A diesel locomotive brought the empty wagons to Uelzen to refill them there. Three fire engines from France were also used as support to defend villages and farms against the fire. The airplanes scooped their water in the Steinhuder Meer. All of Germany was in action It was only through the deployment of around 11,000 German soldiers and heavy snowploughs that the fires could be contained by pulling wide fire corridors, along which the fire finally came to a standstill. In addition to the soldiers, some 15,000firefighters from all over Germany were deployed. Also other authorities like police, Federal Border Guard, Zoll, Technisches Hilfswerk and Forestry Administration as well as the aid organisations Red Cross, Johanniter Unfallhilfe, Malteser Hilfsdienst and Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund were involved. In order to prepare for future wildfire incidents, extinguishing water extraction points were set up at existing water bodies. In addition, extinguishing ponds such as the Angelbecksteich were newly constructed and numerous extinguishing water wells were built. This ensures that sufficient water is now available for fire-fighting vehicles if required. Reforestation of wildfire areasWhen reforesting the destroyed forests, more deciduous trees such as oaks and beeches should first be planted to replace the particularly fire-prone pine stands. However, as the humus in the soil had burnt up in many places during the forest fire, only the undemanding pine could be planted on the barren sandy soils.For the edges of the forest, larch was often chosen to create fire protection strips. The larch loses its needles every winter. The needle litter prevents a denser growth of herbs and shrubs and thus hardly allows fire to develop. Fire protection strips on which the late flowering grape cherry from North America was planted have proved less effective. This shrub is now spreading rapidly coming from the firebreaks, displacing native species and making it difficult to rejuvenate the forests. Heath areas have arisenSome areas have not been reforested again, but developed into heath areas. Today they enrich the landscape as well as the picturesquely situated Angelbecksteich at the foot of an vast heath area in the nature park Südheide.The most important facts of the tour in a short summarywide, partly hilly heathland areaspicturesque lake, the AngelbecksteichMemorial stone to the wildfire disasterwidespread forests" language: "en" type: "SportsActivityLocation" image: "https://dam.destination.one/1441792/94e1754c9f330249c2100567ae5e0aed53ea669444316e1e857f7011f11ac0d5/.png" breadcrumb: "Root > Celle > Special > Destination.Data Details > Tour" --- GPX Share Hermannsburg, Nature Park Südheide: In the footsteps of the Great Wildfire ========================================================================== - Walking / hiking Hiking at the Angelbeck pond near Hermannsburg Rundwanderweg Angelbecksteich, Hermannsburg barrierefrei Wandern Heidschnuckenweg Gedenkstein zur Waldbrandkatastrophe 1975, Angelbecksteich, Hermannsburg ​Angelbecksteich Hermannsburg Südheide Piktogramm zu den Spuren des großen Waldbrandes Barierrefreie Informationstafeln Angelbecksteich bei Hermannsburg Angelbecksteich, Hermannsburg Pavillion Rastplatz Heidschnuckenweg Wandern Angelbecksteich bei Hermannsburg Südheide Wanderwegweiser Angelbecksteich, Hermannsburg Heidschnuckenweg Wandern angelbecksteich, hermannsburg, naturpark suedheide, lueneburger heide Wanderweg am Angelbecksteich Schutzhütte am Angelbecksteich Wanderweg am Angelbecksteich Information board at the fishing pond Aussicht auf den Angelbecksteich Rest area at the fishing pond Luftaufnahme vom Angelbecksteich Herbstmorgen am Angelbeckteich bei Hermannsburg ​Angelbecksteich bei Hermannsburg Blick auf die blühende Heide am Angelbecksteich Wandern am Morgen am Angelbecksteich zur Heideblüte The W11 hikes "On the trail of the great wildfire" begin at the Angelbecksteich hiking car park and illustrate how nature reconquered the landscape after a wildfire disaster. **The Wildfire** During the **wildfire disaster in the districts of Celle and Gifhorn** in 1975, the forests in the area of the hiking trail burned down to the ground. Today there is again an extensive forest area and only the comparatively young trees reveal something of the dramatic past. How could this huge fire happen? There were various reasons leading to the devastating fire disaster in the southern heath, which caused the deaths of several firefighters and devastated more than 7,000 hectares of forest. The summer of 1975 was very **hot and dry**. The region's coniferous forests had dried up and had a lot of **deadwood** from a hurricane in 1972. The dry resinous wood of the pines caught fire easily under these conditions. Exact causes of the fire could only be determined in a few cases. Negligent or deliberate torching and flying sparks from railway traffic were suspected. It had a fatal effect that the sources of the fire were difficult to reach for firefighters via the unpaved forest and heath paths and that hardly any **extinguishing water** was available in the remote areas. The water had to be transported over long distances. In the area of railway tracks, for example between Eschede and Garßen, the Hannover railway fire brigade could be deployed with its fire-fighting train. Four tank cars and one flat car were available for this purpose. Each tank car had a capacity of 45,000 litres of water. The tank fire engine was transported on the flat wagon. Two of the tank cars were always filled with water. A diesel locomotive brought the empty wagons to Uelzen to refill them there. Three fire engines from France were also used as support to defend villages and farms against the fire. The **airplanes** scooped their water in the Steinhuder Meer. **All of Germany was in action** It was only through the deployment of around 11,000 German soldiers and heavy snowploughs that the fires could be contained by pulling wide fire corridors, along which the fire finally came to a standstill. In addition to the soldiers, some **15,000firefighters from all over Germany** were deployed. Also other authorities like police, Federal Border Guard, Zoll, Technisches Hilfswerk and Forestry Administration as well as the aid organisations Red Cross, Johanniter Unfallhilfe, Malteser Hilfsdienst and Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund were involved. In order **to prepare for future wildfire incidents**, extinguishing **water extraction points** were set up at existing water bodies. In addition, **extinguishing ponds** such as the Angelbecksteich were newly constructed and numerous extinguishing water wells were built. This ensures that sufficient water is now available for fire-fighting vehicles if required. **Reforestation of wildfire areas** When reforesting the destroyed forests, more **deciduous trees** such as oaks and beeches should first be planted to replace the particularly fire-prone pine stands. However, as the humus in the soil had burnt up in many places during the forest fire, only the **undemanding pine** could be planted on the barren sandy soils. For the edges of the forest, larch was often chosen to create fire protection strips. The larch loses its needles every winter. The needle litter prevents a denser growth of herbs and shrubs and thus hardly allows fire to develop. Fire protection strips on which the late flowering grape cherry from North America was planted have proved less effective. This shrub is now spreading rapidly coming from the firebreaks, displacing native species and making it difficult to rejuvenate the forests. **Heath areas have arisen** Some areas have not been reforested again, but developed into heath areas. Today they enrich the landscape as well as the at the foot of an vast heath area in the . **The most important facts of the tour in a short summary** - wide, partly hilly heathland areas - picturesque lake, the Angelbecksteich - Memorial stone to the wildfire disaster - widespread forests Read more Good to know ------------ Best to visit suitable Depends on weather - Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun - Jul - Aug - Sep - Oct - Nov - Dec Author Lüneburger Heide GmbHWallstr. 4 21335 Lüneburg Organization Lüneburger Heide GmbH Nearby ------ View on map - Tours 108.92 km - Walking / hiking 30.28 km - Walking / hiking - Walking / hiking Contact L 281, zwischen Oldendorf/ Eschede 29320 Hermannsburg - Oldendorf Download GPX file - - - -