ABSTRACT
After the proposal to construct a test track in Boxberg in BadenWurttemberg failed in 1987 following major protests from residents and environmental protection groups, Mercedes-Benz conducted a costly search from 1987 onwards to find a suitable site in Germany and Europe. Environmental factors were given high priority. Following an assessment procedure that lasted several years, two sites remained out of an original total of 200, namely Papenburg in Emsland and Nambsheim in Alsace, France. Following a final assessment of the two sites Mercedes-Benz decided in favour of Papenburg in 1991 because there were no difficulties about environmentally valuable areas nor was it likely that compensation would have to be paid for changes to the landscape. A further advantage of the site was the fact that the area was owned by the land of Lower Saxony.2
