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Background information
"Garzweiler" has become synonymous with the most socially and ecologically problematic industrial project in the Federal Republic. The planned development of the 48 square kilometer open pit lignite mine in the area between Aachen, Cologne, Düsseldorf and Mönchengladbach divides an entire region into passionate supporters and bitter opponents. Thousands of lignite miners fear for their jobs, while thousands of local residents are fighting the threat of losing their homes and farms. Even the churches are fighting side by side with citizens' initiatives and nature conservation associations against the serious ecological encroachment on Germany's natural balance.
Contents
This photographic background report, 'Garzweiler or how the brown coal connection burns up a whole region' by Eusebius WIRDEIER, reveals the machinations of a powerful brown coal connection of economy, politics and trade unions in the fight for Garzweiler II. The impressive landscape photos document how an entire region is being burned up in the Rhenish lignite mining district." (© Emons , 1995)