Industries in Depth

Germany is turning its old mines into tourist hotspots

A man walks up stairs of a shut-down blast furnace which has been turned into a museum in the western German city of Duisburg May 31, 2012. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay

Germany’s energy transition is slowly taking shape. Image: REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay

Charlotte Edmond
Senior Writer, Forum Agenda
Share:
Our Impact
What's the World Economic Forum doing to accelerate action on Industries in Depth?
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how Germany is affecting economies, industries and global issues
A hand holding a looking glass by a lake
Crowdsource Innovation
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
Stay up to date:

Germany

Set in the foothills of mountains, surrounded by greenery and dotted with buzzing cafés, visitors to Germany’s Lusatian Lake District may have little idea of the scarred landscape beneath the peaceful waters.

Thirty years ago, the now-peaceful villages sat alongside the noise and dust of a major coal mine.

At its height, thousands of people were employed in Lusatia’s mines. Numerous pits were dug to extract lignite - a poor-quality form of coal - to fire Germany’s power stations. Many villagers were driven away as the earth was carved up to access the natural resources - 26,0000 people were relocated to make way for the mines.

But with the reunification of Germany, most of the mines were closed down. The former industrial site fell into decline. And the marred landscape was a source of pollution.

Now, some serious investment in the region has created Europe’s largest artificial lake complex. An hour and a half southeast of Berlin, the area now attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists a year.

How land use has changed in the Lusatian mining region. Image: Vattenfall

More than 20 lakes are connected by a cycle network, providing a venue for watersports, horse riding, quad biking, fishing and diving. There are cafés, restaurants and hotels.

Millions of trees have been planted to restore great forests, and many hectares of agricultural land have been created on former mining dumps. There are even vineyards.

Have you read?

Tourists can visit former mines, slowly being reclaimed by wildlife, and a former power plant is now home to art exhibitions and a music venue.

Discover

How is the World Economic Forum facilitating the transition to clean energy?

A scarred landscape

But with coal still lighting a large number of Germany’s homes, some of the mines in the region are still active. And a fact-finding mission by the European Parliament in 2018 concluded that the environmental scars of the region’s industrial past are still evident.

Germany’s energy transition is slowly taking shape. Image: International Energy Agency

There are concerns that chemicals making their way into rivers threaten Berlin’s drinking supply. Some areas are suffering drought as a result of ground water levels dropping around the mines and there is the risk of ground movement affecting buildings.

Poisonous sludge in waterways risks killing off fish and insects and jeopardising nature conservation.

Germany plans to shut down its coal industry by 2038 - a shift that is likely to come at a cost of tens of billions of euros.

In recent years, renewables have increased in the electricity generation mix. Wind power was the second largest energy source last year and for most of the year made up a greater power source than hard coal or nuclear, according to solar energy research body the Fraunhofer Institute.

Loading...
Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Share:
World Economic Forum logo
Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

Why having low-carbon buildings also makes financial sense

Guy Grainger

September 18, 2024

About us

Engage with us

  • Sign in
  • Partner with us
  • Become a member
  • Sign up for our press releases
  • Subscribe to our newsletters
  • Contact us

Quick links

Language editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

Sitemap

© 2024 World Economic Forum