A hole in the world.
Oct. 4th, 2015 01:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sister_luckWherever I go, countless others have been before me and they have left their mark on the world.
The scale on which humans change their environment is staggering and open-cast mining is one of the most breath-taking.
There is quite a bit of that around here and rehabilitation efforts are already under way at the same time that old villages are re-located because they're in the way of the huge machines digging up the coal. If you want to read more about these now abandoned villages, here is a picture-post (in German).
We didn't actually get very close to the mines, but where we went we had a good look around.
The Indemann stands on a hill - not a natural one, naturally, but a former spoil tip. You can take the lift up to the shoulders and then walk up the stairs to stand on top of his head - on a small platform above where his right eye would be. It is a lot less scary than anticipated. You can also go inside the out-stretched arm - not more than ten people at the same time. We did that, too.
You get a good view of the Tagebau Inden, a large hole in the ground that defies being photographed in its full size.
You can see several of the huge bucket-wheel excavators used to get to the coal and also some of the power plants of the region that turn the lignite from the ground into electricity - at a huge cost to the environment.
When they're done mining in 2030 they are going to fill the hole up with water to make a large recreational lake.
This is the power plant connected to the open surface pit in the pictures:
Another man-made feature is this smaller lake and if you're wondering what the strange playground is in the foreground: apparently that is football golf.
The lake is going to disappear at some point - today it is used for the cooling tower of the power plant.
The Indemann is quite the attraction and a playground and a mini-golf course, a restaurant etc. make sure that people visit.
It is a strange place though - I can't quite put my finger on it. There is no heart, no warmth about it.
The scale on which humans change their environment is staggering and open-cast mining is one of the most breath-taking.
There is quite a bit of that around here and rehabilitation efforts are already under way at the same time that old villages are re-located because they're in the way of the huge machines digging up the coal. If you want to read more about these now abandoned villages, here is a picture-post (in German).
We didn't actually get very close to the mines, but where we went we had a good look around.
The Indemann stands on a hill - not a natural one, naturally, but a former spoil tip. You can take the lift up to the shoulders and then walk up the stairs to stand on top of his head - on a small platform above where his right eye would be. It is a lot less scary than anticipated. You can also go inside the out-stretched arm - not more than ten people at the same time. We did that, too.
You get a good view of the Tagebau Inden, a large hole in the ground that defies being photographed in its full size.
You can see several of the huge bucket-wheel excavators used to get to the coal and also some of the power plants of the region that turn the lignite from the ground into electricity - at a huge cost to the environment.
When they're done mining in 2030 they are going to fill the hole up with water to make a large recreational lake.
This is the power plant connected to the open surface pit in the pictures:
Another man-made feature is this smaller lake and if you're wondering what the strange playground is in the foreground: apparently that is football golf.
The lake is going to disappear at some point - today it is used for the cooling tower of the power plant.
The Indemann is quite the attraction and a playground and a mini-golf course, a restaurant etc. make sure that people visit.
It is a strange place though - I can't quite put my finger on it. There is no heart, no warmth about it.
