After the ice came the forest -
then along came mankind and changed the landscape

The present heathland is a result of thousands of years of many natural and human influences. The surface structure was formed during the Weichselian and Wolstonian glaciation. Following the stone age, when the humans began to settle down and till the land, they forced the forests back, thus allowing the heath to develop. However, only with early protectionary steps at the beginning of the 20th Century it was possible to preserve the Lüneburger Heide.

In the timeline you will find exact information as to how the heath originated.