Witznitz opencast mine
| Witznitz opencast mine | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| General information about the mine | |||
| Mining technology | Open pit mine on 18.8 km² | ||
| Overburden | 654 million tons | ||
| Information about the mining company | |||
| Start of operation | 1911 | ||
| End of operation | 1993 | ||
| Successor use | Replenishment to the Hainer See , Haubitzer See , Kahnsdorfer See , Witznitz reservoir | ||
| Funded raw materials | |||
| Degradation of | Brown coal | ||
| Geographical location | |||
| Coordinates | 51 ° 10 '1.9 " N , 12 ° 28' 44.8" E | ||
|
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| local community | Borna , Böhlen , Rötha , Neukieritzsch | ||
| District ( NUTS3 ) | Leipzig | ||
| country | Free State of Saxony | ||
| Country | Germany | ||
| District | Central German lignite district | ||
The Witznitz open-cast mine was an open-cast mine in the central German lignite area, consisting of several fields, for the extraction of lignite south of Leipzig and north-west of Borna . From 1910 the opencast mines “Victoria”, “Dora-Helene I” and “Witznitz I” were opened. The "Dora-Helene II" mine opened in 1922, and from 1946 the "Witznitz II" opencast mine developed from its smaller mining fields. Due to the economic change with the German reunification in 1989/90, the Witznitz II opencast mine was closed prematurely in 1993.
Geographical location
The former mining fields of the Witznitz opencast mine are located in the Leipzig lowland bay between Leipzig in the north and Borna in the southeast. The post-mining landscape is now part of the natural mining area south of Leipzig and lies in the area of the municipalities of Borna, Rötha, Böhlen and Neukieritzsch in the Saxon district of Leipzig . Rivers in the mining area are the Pleiße and Wyhra with their tributary Eula .
The opencast mines almost completely enclosed the places Großzössen and Kahnsdorf . The Witznitz I, Victoria and Dora-Helene I mines were located in a south-easterly direction towards Borna, the Witznitz II opencast mine enclosed the places in the west and north, and Kahnsdorf in the east.
After the area was recultivated, the Witznitz storage basin was built in the area of the former Witznitz I opencast mine and the Hainer , Haubitzer and Kahnsdorfer See lakes on the area of the Witznitz II opencast mine .
history
Witznitz I opencast mine
At the beginning of the 20th century, the first mining activities began in the Wyhraaue northwest of Borna. The Witznitz I opencast mine between Borna and Großzössen was opened on September 20, 1911. The Victoria and Dora-Helene I opencast mines were built as early as 1907. Between 1912 and 1918, the Witznitz briquette factory was built in the vicinity, the central facilities of which began operations in 1913 and were supplied with raw coal from the Witznitz I opencast mine from 1914 onwards. At that time there was no scheduled coal mining. Due to the low level of development in overburden technology, the coal was mined in many small pits. Six briquette factories were built in the region between 1900 and 1913.
The mining area for the Witznitz I, Dora-Helene I and Victoria opencast mines was between Großzössen in the west, Borna in the southeast, the Eula in the north and the Neukieritzsch – Chemnitz railway in the southwest. Mining was discontinued in the Victoria opencast mine in 1934 and in the Dora-Helene I opencast mine in 1938. Due to the progressive mining in the Witznitz I opencast mine, Witznitz was relocated in 1941 and then excavated until 1944. In 1949 coal mining also ended in the Witznitz I opencast mine. The opencast mine was from 1950 to 1954 for storage tanks Witznitz rebuilt, which serves the flood protection of the city Borna.
| Open pit | Operating time |
|---|---|
| Dora-Helene I. | 1907-1938 |
| Victoria | 1907-1934 |
| Witznitz I | 1911-1949 |
| Dora-Helene II | 1922-1946 |
| Witznitz II | 1946-1993 |
Witznitz II opencast mine
In parallel with the coal mining in the Witznitz I opencast mine, exploration work for the Dora-Helene II opencast mine began in 1922 west of Großzössen. In 1946, the Witznitz II opencast mine was opened up from the two smaller opencast mines. The coal obtained from the large opencast mine was used to supply the six in-house briquette factories and the Lippendorf and Thierbach power plants, as well as use in carbon chemistry . In order to make it easier to make the mining areas usable again later, the cultivated soil obtained in the open pit was placed on top of the dumps.
After the Witznitz II open-cast mine west of Großzössen, regular operations took place in construction site 1 (train operation) from 1950/51. Between 1951 and 1960, mining swiveled clockwise around the pivot point located west of Großzössen to the western outskirts of Kahnsdorf . Until 1950/51, the overburden was tipped on external dumps in the Witznitz I opencast mine, after which it was dumped inside using a spreader. Construction site 1 was between Lobstädt in the southeast, Neukieritzsch in the west and Großzössen and Kahnsdorf in the east.
In 1960, the Kahnsdorf pivot point was installed in construction site 2. Three years later, the inclined coal conveyor system and the coal loading facility were built and put into operation. In 1963/64 the Pleiße was relocated . The new river bed ran over the dump in construction site 1 along the southern mining line. Between 1976 and 1980 the approx. 46 meter high north-south dam was built north of Kahnsdorf, which today separates the Kahnsdorf and Hainer lakes. Construction field 2 was located between construction field 1 in the south, the relocated Pleiße and the Leipzig – Hof railway line in the west, Rötha in the north and mining field 3 in the east. Kahnsdorf enclosed the mining field in the west, north and east. The opencast mine, which rotated clockwise around Kahnsdorf until 1974, dredged over the following locations: Neukieritzsch (eastern areas between 1952 and 1957), Trachenau and Treppendorf (1962 to 1965), southern part of the Rötha reservoir (1966-1968), Kreudnitz (1968/69), Hain and Kleinzössen (1968 to 1972).
In 1976 the Hain pivot point north-east of Kahnsdorf was taken, causing the opencast mine in construction site 3 to pivot counterclockwise to the east. In the meantime, the Crossen auxiliary pivot point was set up in 1982. The pivot point, named after a desert in the Mölbis corridor , was in use until 1987. The corridor at Crossen was devastated in 1988/89. In 1988, the overburden operation was switched from train to belt conveyance.
Suspension of funding and unrealized continuation
According to the original mining plan, the Witznitz II opencast mine was to be continued in the Gaulis field from 1990. As a result, the Gaulis location, the Pleißestausee Rötha landscape protection area and the fine coal mine would have been dredged and the Pleiße relocated again. Around 50 million tons of coal should be mined in the Gaulis mining field by 2015. The area had as borders in the east Espenhain (place and brown coal mine), in the north Rötha, in the west the brown coal mine Böhlen and the railway line Leipzig-Hof and in the south the fields 2 and 3 of the opencast mine Witznitz II.
Since the economic and political change accompanying the German reunification in 1989/90 led to a drastic decline in the demand for lignite, the decision was made in 1991 to close the opencast mine early despite the existing deposits. The mining of overburden was stopped until 1992, and coal mining was also ended in 1993. During the 47-year operation of the Witznitz II opencast mine, 650 million overburden was moved and over 250 million tons of coal were extracted. The six briquette factories around the open pit ceased operations between 1990 and 1992.
Recultivation of the Witznitz II opencast mine
The Witznitz II open-cast mine was shut down in sections until 1993. As early as 1991, the transfer from discontinuation operation to renovation and the design of the remaining holes in Kahnsdorf, Haubitz and Hain took place. For the later use as a recreational area, the focus was initially on securing the remaining embankments. The aim of the renovation was a safe post- mining landscape that can be used in many ways and does not require any human intervention. The area's water balance should return to the level before mining. Rising groundwater and external flooding ( swamp water from the active opencast mines Profen and United Schleenhain ) created the Hainer See with the Haubitzer Bay and the Kahnsdorfer See in the remaining holes of the former Witznitz II opencast mine .
In the area of charred pit Witznitz I was already 1950-1954 Storage tanks Witznitz emerged. In 2010, the Hainer See was connected to the Pleiße via a canal, and the Lange Born will also be integrated into the lake in the future. In the future, the Kahnsdorfer See will overflow into the Hainer See. A use as a recreational landscape is planned for the Hainer See, as well as a natural part in the area of the Haubitzer Bay. The Hainer See has been developed for tourism since 2008. The two main areas of development are the Kahnsdorf lagoon (area of the former Kahnsdorf daytime facilities) and the north bank at Rötha . The Kahnsdorfer See is largely left to its own devices as a priority area for nature and landscape.
The areas of the old dump near Neukieritzsch and east of the Pleiße as well as the plateau of the inner dump were made usable again years before the closure. The buildings of the daytime facilities, signal boxes and the coal loading at the Hain pivot point were dismantled between 1993 and 1998, as were the conveyor systems, the twelve large devices and pipelines. A re-use concept was drawn up for the Witznitz briquette factory, which was closed in 1992. Despite structural demolitions and the removal of the entire technology, the eleven buildings made of yellow brickwork have been preserved and four have already been renovated; they now house offices and are used for exhibitions and cultural events. Another building was converted into a residential location for lofts . Furthermore, the creation of a new Borna district was planned on the area, which should integrate new apartments and the old factory buildings. The aim was a mixed use with a focus on education / culture / leisure, trade and living. The first single-family houses have already been built in the area of the former rail connection. The artist Michael Fischer-Art and his family became one of the residents of the loft apartments . <Ref = "Lofts" />
In 2018 it became known that in the area of the parts of the briquette factory that had not been renovated until then, rubble from the demolition of the Leipzig Provost Church was being stored without a permit. Shortly thereafter, the redevelopment plans of the development plan “old industrial site former briquette factory” were updated and the company AP 3 Projekt GmbH announced that it would build modern lofts and private homes as a residential park in the style of a garden city.
Locations affected by opencast mining
Relocated places
| Relocation site | Residents | Dismantling year | Open pit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Witznitz | 861 | 1941-1944 | Witznitz I |
| Neukieritzsch (partial demolition) | 190 | 1952-1957 | Witznitz II, mining field 2 |
| Trachenau | 450 | 1962-1965 | Witznitz II, mining field 2 |
| Treppendorf | 120 | 1962-1965 | Witznitz II, mining field 2 |
| Kreudnitz | 175 | 1968-1969 | Witznitz II, mining field 2 |
| Grove and Kleininzössen | 350 | 1968-1971 | Witznitz II, mining field 2 |
| Gaulis (partial demolition) | 10 | 1989 | Witznitz II, Gaulis dump |
| Deserted Crossen in the Mölbis corridor | 0 | 1989 | Witznitz II, mining field 3 |
The southern part of the Rötha reservoir was excavated by field 2 of the Witznitz II opencast mine between 1966 and 1968.
Places and areas designated for devastation
The following locations and other geographical objects were in the planned mining area. Due to the early closure of the Witznitz II opencast mine and the consequent failure to open the Gaulis mining field, they were spared demolition. This was u. a.
- Location Gaulis
- Reservoir Rötha (remaining northern part) and heap fine coal basin
- River bed of the Pleiße (relocation was planned)
Web links
- The Witznitz opencast mine on www.devastiert.de
- The Witznitz opencast mine with a map on the LMBV website
- The Witznitz opencast mine on www.ostkohle.de
- Homepage of the Witznitzer Lakes association
Individual evidence
- ↑ Crossen in the Historical Directory of Saxony
- ↑ Nikos Natsidis: Remains of the Leipzig Provost Church are behind the Witznitz Briquette Farm , Leipziger Volkszeitung, April 5, 2018; accessed on February 23, 2020.
- ↑ Nikos Natsidis: Lofts and greenhouse planned in Witznitz , Leipziger Volkszeitung, May 30, 2018; accessed on February 23, 2020.