Central German lake district - Mitteldeutsches Seenland

Central German lake district is a post-mining landscape mainly in Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt with small shares in the northeast Thuringia. The region in the immediate vicinity of Leipzig is also known as "Leipziger Neuseenland"

places

Other goals

background

A region shaped by lignite

In the "Central German Revier" - an unclearly defined and delimited term for the mines during its existence Helmstedt on the one hand and that Lusatian district ("East Elbe area" before World War II) on the other hand - lignite has been mined for centuries. Initially on a small scale in opencast mines above the water table or underground, later in gigantic opencast mines with dewatering, the movement of gigantic waste volumes and a whole infrastructure of excavators, conveyor belts, mine railways and the like. While it was relatively uninteresting to mine lignite before the First World War, since the coal from the Ruhr, Silesia or Alsace was much easier to use, the loss of parts of these resources due to the Versailles Treaty and the occupation of the Ruhr changed a lot and efforts were made by the Nazi era at the latest "Self-sufficiency", in which domestic lignite should replace imported crude oil, is added. Everywhere pits were dug, places devastated, people relocated and a whole chemical industry established itself in the Central German chemistry trianglewhich, using the newly developed Fischer-Tropsch synthesis and other processes, produced synthetic fuel, synthetic rubber and other "war-essential" materials from lignite. House firing also remained significant and the briquette factories and, increasingly, power stations developed an enormous "hunger" for lignite. After the war, the Soviet occupiers ordered the resumption of mining even before the GDR was officially founded and within a few years the small socialist country had developed into the largest lignite producer in the world. Lignite mining was pushed by the GDR leadership with little other resources and it was even possible to extract coke from the inferior fuel material, which was sufficient for metallurgical purposes. The price was an almost immeasurable destruction of the landscape and the environment - a total of over 50,000 people had to be relocated to make way for the opencast mines. The high sulfur content of the lignite led to acid rain and a characteristic stench that still arouses a bad association with the GDR of those days. Since the seams were several meters thick, there was a mass deficit, even if the overburden was backfilled into the opencast mine after carbonization. If at the beginning of the funding no one thought about any kind of recultivation, the idea soon arose of flooding the opencast mines and transforming them into a recreational area, as had already been achieved with some success at Lake Senftenberg.

From the open pit to the lake

With the end of the GDR, completely different conditions suddenly broke out in the area. Where once a chemical industry on a global scale had an almost insatiable need for lignite, suddenly "unprofitable" operations had to be carried out as "socially acceptable" as possible and the rest to be privatized. The trust may not have covered itself with fame, but it did manage to sell some opencast mines - and even parts of the chemical industry - to investors, with the lignite sector now trading as "MIBRAG". However, the perpetual burdens of the opencast mines remained with the public sector and the "LMBV"(Lausitzer und Mitteldeutsche Bergbauverwaltungsgesellschaft) founded, the aim of which was to clean up contaminated sites, to recycle areas and to repair or avoid economic and ecological damage as far as possible. It was clear that uncontrolled flooding with groundwater would have negative consequences. The mining activity had exposed huge amounts of pyrite, which now oxidized in the air and formed sulfuric acid and sulphurous acid in contact with water. It was therefore decided to use rivers in the area "Tapping" in order to form a network of lakes connected by navigable canals. The hope that the effects of the acid could be reduced by dilution were fulfilled in most cases and the LMBV helped with quick lime where this was not the case Another problem was - as was not only shown by the Nachterstedt accident in 2009 - the instability of the Dump bottoms and loose sediments. Another task of the LMBV was to stabilize where possible and to block where stabilization is impossible. Overall, the process of transformation from a "lunar landscape" of mining to a lake district, which had already begun in GDR times and is far from over, can be considered a success. "Ferropolis", the "City of Iron", where various mining machines have been arranged to create an open-air museum, and the relocation of the Highfield Festival to Lake Störmthal in 2010 are just some of the successes of this structural change. Although coal is still being mined in three open-cast mines today (2020), the "coal compromise" of 2019 means that an end to production is already foreseeable. There are already plans for the open-cast mines that have not yet been flooded, and a coherent overall concept can be seen in which recreational use, structural change and nature conservation are brought into harmony as much as possible.

language

getting there

By plane

1  Leipzig Halle AirportWebsite of this institution (IATA: LEJ). Leipzig Halle Airport in the Wikipedia encyclopediaLeipzig Halle Airport in the Wikimedia Commons media directoryLeipzig Halle Airport (Q668382) in the Wikidata database.Located in the middle of the region, this would be the perfect arrival airport if the flight options were more than cargo flights and a few poor holiday charters to sunny Mediterranean destinations.

mobility

Map of Central German Lakeland

Fortunately, the state tickets for Saxony are also valid in Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia and vice versa.

Tourist Attractions

Lakes

  • 1  Bockwitz lake. Bockwitzer See in the encyclopedia WikipediaBockwitzer See in the media directory Wikimedia CommonsBockwitzer See (Q889331) in the Wikidata database.168 hectares of land.
  • 2  Cospudener See. Cospudener See in the encyclopedia WikipediaCospudener See in the media directory Wikimedia CommonsCospudener See (Q896548) in the Wikidata database.436 hectares of land.
  • 3  Geiseltalsee. Geiseltalsee in the encyclopedia WikipediaGeiseltalsee in the media directory Wikimedia CommonsGeiseltalsee (Q1498876) in the Wikidata database.With an area of ​​1842 hectares, it is by far the largest lake in the region and until the "Cottbus Baltic Sea" is completely flooded Lusatian Lakeland the largest opencast mine in Germany.
  • 4  Gremminer See (Ferropolis Lake). Gremminer See in the encyclopedia WikipediaGremminer See in the media directory Wikimedia CommonsGremminer See (Q1545611) in the Wikidata database.541 hectares of land. "Ferropolis" is located on a peninsula in the lake.
  • 5  Grosser lake. Gröberner See in the encyclopedia WikipediaGröberner See in the media directory Wikimedia CommonsGröberner See (Q1551610) in the Wikidata database.374 hectares of land.
  • 6  Great Goitzschesee. Großer Goitzschesee in the encyclopedia WikipediaGroßer Goitzschesee in the media directory Wikimedia CommonsGroßer Goitzschesee (Q1123435) in the Wikidata database.1331 hectares of land.
  • 7  Großkaynaer See (Südfeldsee). Großkaynaer See in the encyclopedia WikipediaGroßkaynaer See in the media directory Wikimedia CommonsGroßkaynaer See (Q1500286) in the Wikidata database.255 hectares of land.
  • 8  Großstolpener See. Großstolpener See in the encyclopedia WikipediaGroßstolpener See in the media directory Wikimedia CommonsGroßstolpener See (Q22692129) in the Wikidata database.28 hectares of land.
  • 9  Hainer See. Hainer See in the encyclopedia WikipediaHainer See in the media directory Wikimedia CommonsHainer See (Q1569455) in the Wikidata database.560 hectares of land.
  • 10  Hard Sea. Harthsee in the encyclopedia WikipediaHarthsee (Q1587170) in the Wikidata database.88 hectares of land.
  • 11  Haselbacher See. Haselbacher See in the encyclopedia WikipediaHaselbacher See in the media directory Wikimedia CommonsHaselbacher See (Q1366160) in the Wikidata database.334 hectares of land.
  • 12  Haubitzer See. Haubitzer See in the encyclopedia WikipediaHaubitzer See in the media directory Wikimedia CommonsHaubitzer See (Q1589143) in the Wikidata database.158 hectares of land.
  • 13  Kahnsdorfer See. Kahnsdorfer See in the encyclopedia WikipediaKahnsdorfer See in the media directory Wikimedia CommonsKahnsdorfer See (Q1721221) in the Wikidata database.Mainly nature reserve. 121 hectares of land.
  • 14  Kulkwitzer See. Kulkwitzer See in the encyclopedia WikipediaKulkwitzer See in the media directory Wikimedia CommonsKulkwitzer See (Q1568369) in the Wikidata database.170 hectares of land.
  • 15  Markkleeberger See. Markkleeberger See in the encyclopedia WikipediaMarkkleeberger See in the media directory Wikimedia CommonsMarkkleeberger See (Q1900769) in the Wikidata database.249 hectares of land.
  • 16  Mulde reservoir. Muldestausee in the encyclopedia WikipediaMuldestausee in the media directory Wikimedia CommonsMuldestausee (Q1952108) in the Wikidata database.630 hectares of land.
  • 17  Neuhauser See. Neuhäuser See in the encyclopedia WikipediaNeuhäuser See (Q1980705) in the Wikidata database.155 hectares of land.
  • 18  Paupitzscher See. Paupitzscher See in the encyclopedia WikipediaPaupitzscher See (Q1558022) in the Wikidata database.80 hectares of land.
  • 19  Raßnitz lake. Raßnitzer See in the encyclopedia WikipediaRaßnitzer See in the media directory Wikimedia CommonsRaßnitzer See (Q2134380) in the Wikidata database.315 hectares of land.
  • 20  Schladitzer See. Schladitzer See in the encyclopedia WikipediaSchladitzer See in the media directory Wikimedia CommonsSchladitzer See (Q2237951) in the Wikidata database.220 hectares of land.
  • 21  Seelhausen lake. Seelhausener See in the encyclopedia WikipediaSeelhausener See in the media directory Wikimedia CommonsSeelhausener See (Q2265249) in the Wikidata database.634 hectares of land.
  • 22  Borna reservoir. Reservoir Borna in the encyclopedia WikipediaReservoir Borna in the media directory Wikimedia CommonsBorna reservoir (Q2308574) in the Wikidata database.265 hectares of land.
  • 23  Störmthaler See. Störmthaler See in the encyclopedia WikipediaStörmthaler See in the media directory Wikimedia CommonsStörmthaler See (Q2360651) in the Wikidata database.733 hectares of land. Location of the annual "Highfield Festival" (see below).
  • 24  Wallendorfer See. Wallendorfer See in the encyclopedia WikipediaWallendorfer See in the media directory Wikimedia CommonsWallendorfer See (Q2542675) in the Wikidata database.338 hectares of land.
  • 25  Werbeliner See. Werbeliner See in the encyclopedia WikipediaWerbeliner See in the media directory Wikimedia CommonsWerbeliner See (Q2560025) in the Wikidata database.443 hectares of land.
  • 26  Werbener See. Werbener See in the encyclopedia WikipediaWerbener See in the media directory Wikimedia CommonsWerbener See (Q1335737) in the Wikidata database.79 hectares of land.
  • 27  Zwenkau lake. Zwenkauer See in the encyclopedia WikipediaZwenkauer See in the media directory Wikimedia CommonsZwenkauer See (Q243843) in the Wikidata database.970 hectares of land.

Open pit mines still active

  • 28  United Schleenhain opencast mineUnited Schleenhain opencast mine in the Wikipedia encyclopediaUnited Schleenhain opencast mine in the Wikimedia Commons media directoryUnited Schleenhain opencast mine (Q16976142) in the Wikidata database
  • 29  Profen opencast mineOpencast mine Profen in the encyclopedia WikipediaOpencast mine Profen in the media directory Wikimedia CommonsProfen opencast mine (Q16968864) in the Wikidata database
  • 30  Amsdorf opencast mineAmsdorf opencast mine in the Wikipedia encyclopediaAmsdorf opencast mine in the media directory Wikimedia CommonsAmsdorf opencast mine (Q1480414) in the Wikidata database

Museums

activities

  • 1  FerropolisFerropolis in the Wikipedia encyclopediaFerropolis in the media directory Wikimedia CommonsFerropolis (Q896647) in the Wikidata database
  • Highfield FestivalHighfield Festival in the Wikipedia encyclopediaHighfield Festival in the Wikimedia Commons media directoryHighfield Festival (Q1617903) in the Wikidata database

kitchen

nightlife

security

climate

literature

Web links

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