Read the video transcript here
Barbara Oberherr:
"Defend yourself, resist!"
Ursula Voss:
»I would have liked to stay at home.
I would not have moved. "
David Dresen:
"A large part of what RWE did with people was rubbish."
Manfred Kurth:
“It worked for us.
We really ought to be grateful to RWE Power. "
Resettlements in the Rhenish district: when the coal excavator arrives
This village should go - even if the coal phase-out has long been decided.
Keyenberg, south of Mönchengladbach, is one of the last five villages to give way to the Garzweiler II opencast mine.
Where the village is now, the energy company RWE wants to extract 630 million tons of lignite from the ground.
The Keyenbergers should receive compensation and move to a new housing estate nine kilometers away.
But there is resistance.
Barbara Oberherr, activist »Human rights over mining rights«:
»Just imagine: I, little village bumbler from Keyenberg, was at the world climate conference in Madrid and gave a speech.
Before the tribunal. "
Together with eight other families, Barbara Oberherr maintains a piece of land between the opencast mine and the first houses in the village.
With this property she wants to stop the excavators in court.
Barbara Oberherr, activist »Human rights before mining rights«:
»The solidarity community is not willing to sell this property.
This means that the legal path must first be taken before this property can be claimed.
We can only be expropriated if it serves the common good.
The question: does it serve the common good to further heat up the climate? "
But for the process to begin, RWE would first have to formally claim the area.
So far this has not happened.
Some on site consider this to be a tactic: the longer everything takes, the less liveable the village could be for the indomitable in the end.
Five last villages
Lignite has been mined in the Garzweiler opencast mine for more than 100 years.
It is to be further enlarged until the final phase-out of coal in 2038.
Then it could be the last active coal mine in Germany.
Every year the excavators move around 150 million cubic meters of overburden to get around 30 million tons of coal.
12 villages had to make way for the hole.
Five are to follow.
Relocation began in Keyenberg in 2016, and most of the houses are now empty.
Barbara Oberherr can also see good things in life in the ghost village.
Barbara Oberherr, activist »Human rights over mining rights«:
»I don't have a neighbor who grills.
I don't have anyone who shouts or listens to loud music.
It's like living in paradise. "
But she doesn't want to fight just because of the newly won silence.
Barbara Oberherr, activist "Human Rights before Mining Rights":
»If you deal with the topic, you automatically become a climate protector.
Instead of bowling or going to the church choir, I went to meetings and listened to lectures about the lowering of the groundwater, about the mercury that is blown into the air, about nitrogen oxides and fine dust. "
The North Rhine-Westphalian state government has just made a new key decision on lignite.
According to this, Keyenberg will not be demolished until 2026, two years later than originally planned.
Two years more time for the village activist to promote her position.
Barbara Oberherr:
»We are right!
We are right in what we do, and that gives me the power and the strength. "
Ursula Voss built a house when she was over 80 years old
The other side of the displacements conflict: Keyenberg (new).
Those who have built a new home with the lucrative compensation from RWE already live here.
The 84-year-old Ursula Voss and her neighbor Manfred Kurth are happy about modern, age-appropriate homes.
Ursula Voss, built when she was over 80:
»I set up this way too, in case I have to have a nurse later: a guest room right at the front of the door.
In my old house I had to climb stairs, the bathroom was upstairs.
Not even on the ground.
And here I have everything open. "
Manfred Kurth:
"I have to say today that it fits perfectly into our life plans."
Both see only one future for their old houses: demolition.
Manfred Kurth, resettler:
"I would not find it good, I must honestly tell you, the idea that someone else will live in our house."
Ursula Voss, resettler:
»No one can live there anymore.
When a house is always empty ... "
Moved in with mom - to offer resistance
David Dresen lives next door in Kuckum.
His family has been running the farm since 1826. Their village could be the last one in Germany that is still being dredged for coal.
David Dresen has moved back in with his parents and lives on his savings.
He invests the majority of his time in the fight for the villages, against the excavators.
The fact that the state government has now postponed the demolition to 2026 makes him confident.
David Dresen, activist “All Villages Remain”:
“In five years no state government will dare to demolish villages.
If the climate crisis has gotten worse than it is now, if renewables have been expanded even further than they are now.
In five years it will become clear what we already know today: that the coal is not needed.
And that's why I see my perspective very clearly here. "
Nevertheless, his family has also reserved a piece of land at the new location - just in case.
If they do have to relocate, their horses and roosters can come along too.
They obtained the approval for this extra.
David Dresen, activist “All villages remain”:
“The more uncomfortable you are for RWE and the state government, the more money you get. The least amount of money goes to the person who simply goes and obeys everything.
But that can't be.
It cannot be that the compensation depends on who can afford to stand up against the large corporation. "
Theft and decay
An attitude that is alien to Ursula Voss.
Protest was never an option for them.
Today she wants to finish with the old Keyenberg for good.
Together with neighbor Manfred Kurth, she visits her old house one last time.
She hasn't been there since moving out more than a year ago.
Ursula Voss: »Dirt everywhere.«
Manfred Kurth: »Be careful, don't stumble.« Ursula Voss: »Oh, here I see! The expensive disk is broken! The 'very expensive glass. Oh gosh! That can not be true. Awful. That's where they hit. "
Burglars have ransacked the vacant houses in Keyenberg several times.
They are particularly interested in copper pipes and other metals.
That is why RWE bricked up the rear windows and doors.
Ursula Voss: “I don't know whether the pipes are still attached here, otherwise everything will be gone up there. The log cabin was nicely tended, the lawn is impossible - I no longer recognize my garden. Mr. Kurth, he knew my garden ... "
Manfred Kurth: "Yes, yes, I say yes: We were about to have to pay visitor's tax."
Ursula Voss has seen enough.
Ursula Voss: »I'm the type who always looks forward. You're like that too, right? "
Manfred Kurth:" Absolutely, Ms. Voss, absolutely. " Ursula Voss:" Wouldn't like to look any more, nech? " Manfred Kurth:" No, well , that's enough, right? " Ursula Voss: »Yes, that's enough now. «
Five last villages could be destroyed for coal mining in the Rhineland.
And even if Barbara Oberherr, David Dresen and their colleagues manage to stop the excavators: Keyenberg will be a torn up village.
Half abandoned, half inhabited.
