Heidekreis ("Heath district") is a district (Landkreis) in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Harburg, Lüneburg, Uelzen, Celle, Hanover, Nienburg, Verden and Rotenburg.
Historically the region belonged to the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg and its successor states. The district was established in 1977 by merging the former districts of Soltau and Fallingbostel as Soltau-Fallingbostel (German pronunciation: [ˈzɔltaʊ falɪŋˈbɔstəl]). On 1 August 2011 it was renamed to Heidekreis.
The district includes the western half of the Lüneburg Heath (Lüneburger Heide). Since this landscape is so characteristic for the district, it calls itself "the Heath District". The capital is Bad Fallingbostel, although it has only 11,800 inhabitants and is only the fifth largest town in the district.
The coat of arms displays:
When shadows fill the sky
And evil's all around
Don't call a preacher
A different creature
Bring the hoodoo down.
Beside a sacred fire
That's where he will be found.
Somewhere in Haiti
Baron Samedi
Bring the hoodoo down.
It's a river of blood
And a river of tears.
It's a river of Love.
I know you'll die to see
That zombie jamboree.
The dead will tango
Until the mambo
Bring the hoodoo down.
We're gonna learn to dance
And fall into a trance,
And picking cotton
Will be forgotten