Otzenrath |
| Giant mining machines are approaching the german town Otzenrath. The 800 year old village, now at the edge of an enormous open-cast lignite (braunkohl) mine, is a gost town and will soon completely have disappeared. Its inhabitants have been forced to move, to resettle in a newly build village or to move elsewhere. Battles have been fought over their backs by politicians, environmentalists and mining coorporations while they themselves had to fight for the old village and continue to fight to get what was promised to them in their new hometown. |
| 15-10-2005 On foot, following remnants of the railway line between Hochneukirch and Stolberg. |
 Turnoff Otzenrath on the abandoned highway A44 |
 On my topographic map there is still a village called Garzweiler between the highway and the browncoal mine. But the road to Garzweiler ends suddenly only a few metres past the viaduct. |
 Standing on the edge of a big drop the view is much more impressive than can be reproduced by stitching a few photos together. Click on the image for a larger version. (157 KB) |
 Click on the image for a larger version. (144 KB) |
| For an abandoned village there are lots of people around, taking the kids for a bicycle tour, taking the car and the wife for a ride or picking apples from trees which once stood in someones backyard. |
 Greenhouse bulging with green |
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 Seemingly at random buildings are partly or demolished. This frontdoor now leads directly into the backyard. |
