A weekend in Rödingen, artificial mountains, and trees
I had a really beautiful and rejuvenating weekend in Rödingen (Nordrhein-Westfalen) staying at a friend’s lovely home. I snapped a few photos of my room and the house, but mostly took photos of the outdoor places I explored on foot. Corn fields dominated the area directly around the house, but a bit further away was the anomaly known as Sophienhöhe. Here’s a translation from German Wikipedia:
“The Sophienhöhe, also called Monte Sophia, is a recultivated spoil heap created by the mining of brown coal (lignite) seams from the Hambach open-cast mine, which covers an area of about 13 km² near Jülich in the Düren district and whose highest point is 301.8 m above sea level… Popular science sources refer to it as the "largest artificial mountain on earth”.”
My translation: in the 1970’s Germany discovered brown coal and has since been mining it. As a result of digging up the earth to uncover the coal, a literal MOUNTAIN has been created. There is also a GIANT HOLE next to the mountain called Tagebau Hambach. I didn’t get to see it because it was all too much to attempt on foot, but I’ve attached some photos from google to give an idea of how massive this hole is. Also from German Wiki:
“The Hambach opencast mine is controversial due to the associated exhaust fumes from coal combustion and other environmental destruction, including the clearing of the Hambach Forest. Villages over 1000 years old, such as Manheim, have to make way for the opencast mine.”
A small part of the 12,000 year old forest still exists, but the majority was destroyed to make way for the mine. The project has and continues to dismantle villages and towns that call this land home. It transformed the landscape and ecology of the area in irreversible ways.
I didn’t manage to snap any photos of the power plants we drove past on our way back to the train station on Sunday. By this time I had already learned about the situation, listened to my friend’s stories of growing up playing in the old growth Hambach Forest, and walked across the Sophienhöhe myself, taking in the trees and birds and nature. I didn’t know what the point of taking photos of the power plants would be, and also, I was in a moving car. But it’s a part of the larger image I left the area with.
There’s something to me in this story about getting to know a land beyond how it wants to be known. There’s something about home and displacement and making new home. There’s something about how quietly and casually giant systems run in the background and shape landscapes and lives. There’s something about death, consumption, energy, and land. And of course, to me, there is always something about trees.
