{"id":76211,"date":"2023-10-12T19:07:45","date_gmt":"2023-10-12T17:07:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/visualjournalism.de\/?post_type=magazin&p=76211"},"modified":"2026-09-28T12:39:32","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T10:39:32","slug":"nordhorn-range-low-flying-jets-bombs-and-protests","status":"publish","type":"magazin","link":"https:\/\/visualjournalism.de\/en\/magazine\/on-the-margins\/nordhorn-range-low-flying-jets-bombs-and-protests\/","title":{"rendered":"Nordhorn Range: \u2018There\u2019s nothing we can do about it, in court or otherwise\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n
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\n\tOn the margins<\/a><\/div>\r\n

\r\n Nordhorn Range: \u2018There\u2019s nothing we can do about it, in court or otherwise\u2019 <\/h2>\r\n\r\n
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For years, residents in south-western Lower Saxony have been protesting against low-flying jets and bombing practice \u2013 and keep coming up against limits.
\nBy Sophie Boyer<\/a> (text, photos), Conrad Fr\u00f6hlich<\/a>, Louisa Hertz<\/a> (text)<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n

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Since 2001, the Nordhorn air-to-ground range has been the Bundeswehr\u2019s last and only bombing range in Germany.<\/strong> NATO combat aircraft carry out training manoeuvres here day and night. The \u2018Nordhorn Range\u2019, as the site is also known, is a peripheral area in the far south-west of Lower Saxony covering around 2,300 hectares \u2013 more than 3,200 football pitches. In 2000, under the command of the British Royal Air Force, more than 8,000 target runs took place. At that time in particular, local people strongly criticised the use of the range because of aircraft noise.

In the years that followed, things became somewhat quieter. By 2018 there were only 784, but the number of target runs has been rising again since then; in 2022, NATO units carried out 2,686. Since the neighbouring \u2018Engdener W\u00fcste\u2019 nature reserve was extended in 2002, half of the range has been protected. With its large area, it borders four municipalities in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Notgemeinschaft Nordhorn<\/a> action group has now been campaigning against the range for more than 50 years. Its criticisms: environmental damage, noise and safety concerns. \u2018Back then, together with the people living here in and around Nordhorn, we occupied the site. We were simply fed up with having to put up with the noise of the fighter jets,\u2019 says G\u00fcnter Roelofs, acting managing spokesperson of the Notgemeinschaft Nordhorn-Range. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Coordinating the training flights<\/strong> of the combat aircraft in one of the three control towers.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption>\n \n <\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n

The action group represents the concerns of the residents affected<\/strong>, makes demands of the military and calls for protests. Although the range is still in active use, this has borne fruit: \u2018The no-fly period in the summer holidays was increased from four to six weeks. There were also recuperation trips to the Baltic coast for schoolchildren.\u2019 The acting managing director also mentions funding for quadruple glazing. 

In this way, the action group tries to make the situation more bearable for residents. Especially with Russia\u2019s war of aggression against Ukraine<\/a> in mind, it seems unrealistic that the Bundeswehr will give up the range in Nordhorn. That would, after all, require a majority of members<\/a> of the Bundestag: \u2018That\u2019s not going to happen,\u2019 Roelofs believes. The Bundeswehr simply holds the upper hand. \u2018They just say \u201cno\u201d, and there\u2019s nothing we can do about it, in court or otherwise.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n

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The area of the air-to-ground range<\/strong> could hold 3,200 football pitches.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption>\n \n <\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n

Yet even this avowed opponent of the range can understand how politicians and the Bundeswehr are acting in the context of Russia\u2019s war:<\/strong> \u2018With a war going on in Ukraine right now, it is of course an awkward position for us to say the range has to go now. I can understand the arguments that NATO and the Bundeswehr need to train at the moment.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That does not, however, deter G\u00fcnter Roelofs from his overall goal: \u2018Our mission and our will is for the range to be given up without replacement. Others shouldn\u2019t have to feel the burden we have had to bear either.\u2019 

\u2018I experienced the noise terror for twelve years. I once told the Bundeswehr that my hearing had been damaged by the noise, and I gave reasons for that. There are also people who have been psychologically affected by it,\u2019 says the managing director. \u2018I also do this for the local population. What happens, for example, if young people somehow get onto the site and find leftover munitions? There was even one case that ended fatally for a teenager. Even today you can still get onto the site illegally if you want to.\u2019 Roelofs makes it clear that the military has tightened safety measures, but says a residual risk cannot be ruled out: \u2018A few years ago an aircraft took off with practice rockets under its wings. Two rockets were lost, and to this day no one knows where they are.\u2019 

The action group\u2019s critical stance on one side, the Bundeswehr\u2019s needs on the other<\/strong> \u2013 you might expect entrenched positions. \u2018The last two range commanders we had were friendly to us. They were open-minded and you could talk to them. But of course they have their guidelines and can\u2019t make any concessions to us,\u2019 Roelofs explains.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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