It is only 6.5 hectares in size and just 14 meters high – a dwarf in the land of spoil heaps. However, with its potential for renewal, it can thrive. The <strong>Brockenscheidt heap</strong> in Waltrop exemplifies how sustainable projects can arise from old mining relics. How attractive commercial and recreational areas emerge from historical industrial facilities. Out with the old, in with the new, this is the principle that is reflected in many facets around the renatured dumping mountain.
The Spurwerkturm by the artist Jan Bormann demonstrates this vividly. 1000 meters of worn track rails transformed into an impressive artwork over seven years. The slats once kept the conveyor baskets of the Ewald mine in Herten on track. Now they form the centerpiece of the Waltrop spoil heap plateau: a 20-meter-high wooden lattice structure. A landmark of Waltrop. A steel colossus on the horizon. The pyramid with a dense stump and three tapering individual slats has overshadowed nearby industrial halls and trees since the year 2000. Excursionists gaze from the observation platform as far as the neighboring cities of Castrop-Rauxel, Dortmund, and Lünen.
And what else has happened around the heap? The tranquil grounds of the former Waltrop mine have developed into a vibrant attraction in recent decades. Those seeking relaxation and shopping fans equally appreciate this – out with the old, in with the new, here is a feeling of life. This is partly due to the International Building Exhibition Emscher Park, which drove the restoration of the protected brick ensemble. On the other hand, it's thanks to the innovative traders and producers who have settled in the historical industrial buildings.
For example, a department store chain has repurposed the former hoisting machine hall, the wage hall with the changing room and lamp room, as well as the turbine hall for sales and administration. It offers the good old as the reliable new and relies on criteria such as tradition, regionality, and longevity. A bicycle manufacturer produces original tricycles with electric motors not far away; the typical bicycles have become obsolete in the impressive buildings with their Art Nouveau facades and round-arched windows.
Did miners dream of this when they toiled on the mining site from 1903 to 1979? The extraction of hard coal is long history here. What remains are memories marked with entirely new functions.
