Let M be a complete C ~~ Riemannian manifold of non-positive sectional curvature. We say that a geodesic 9: IR~ M bounds a fiat strip of width c > 0 (a fiat half plane) if there is a totally geodesic, isometric immersion i: [0, c) x IR~M(i: [0, oo) x IR~M) such that i(0, t) = 9(0. A 9eodesic without fiat strip (without fiat half plane) is a geodesic, which does not bound a flat strip (a flat half plane). We will prove that the existence of a closed geodesic without flat half plane has rather strong consequences for the geometry and topology of M. In fact, many of the properties of a manifold of strictly negative curvature (resp. of a visibility manifold) still remain true if one assumes only the existence of a closed geodesic without flat half plane. We will discuss the existence of free (non-Abelian) subgroups of gl(M), the existence of infinitely many closed geodesics, the density of closed geodesics, and a transitivity property of the geodesic flow. It is, therefore, interesting to give conditions which ensure the existence of a closed geodesic without flat half plane. We will prove that M has a closed geodesic without flat half plane if vol(M)< oo and if M contains a geodesic without flat half plane. Note that a geodesic is not boundary of a flat strip (and a fortiori not boundary of a flat half plane) if it passes through a point p e M such that the sectional curvature of all tangent planes at p is negative. In the proofs of our results we investigate the action of rtl(M ) as group of isometries on the universal covering space H of M. In the proofs of many of our results we do not use the fact that this action is properly discontinuous and free. We, therefore, formulate these results for arbitrary groups D of isometries of H. The paper is organized as follows: In Sect. 1 we fix some definitions and notations and quote some standard results of non-positive curvature. Section 2 is the central section of this paper. We investigate the properties of those isometries of H which correspond to closed geodesics in M. We also prove