Ghost villages near Lützerath: "The excavators are coming," shouted grandfather with dementia

Created: 01/07/2023 09:21

By: Peter Seven

David Dresen and Marita Dresen have been fighting for years to preserve the five villages near Lützerath at the Garzweiler II opencast mine. The yellow cross has become the symbol of the protest.

© Peter Seven

Most of the inhabitants have left the villages around Lützerath, which were to be demolished.

But gradually life is returning.

A future plan has a very personal story.

Erkelenz – Maybe someone will make a movie from the story about the people who live at the Garzweiler II opencast mine.

Or a Netflix series.

The material about the five small villages that are resisting demolition by the energy company RWE always offers enough drama, reports 24RHEIN.

David versus Goliath.

The film would then probably end with the big village festival, the villages are saved, everyone is happy.

Only: In real life it always goes on, even after the celebration.

Lützerath before the eviction: That has happened until now

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Lützerath has to give way, but five villages remain at the Garzweiler opencast mine

The festival really took place in Kuckum when it became clear that the village, like the neighboring towns of Keyenberg, Berverath, Oberwestrich and Unterwestrich, would not be demolished.

The federal, state and RWE countries have agreed on this as part of the NRW coal phase-out in 2030.

Many villagers have fought hard for this for years.

Only Lützerath, the sixth village, has to give way so that RWE can excavate the lignite underneath and use the overburden for recultivation.

Activists are still occupying Lützerath, but the evacuation is planned for mid-January.

Whether and how quickly the Lützerath evacuation happens also depends on the resistance of the protesters in the village.

Unlike the Hambach Forest, however, the chances are currently rather slim that the hamlet will be spared at the last minute.

RWE wanted to demolish the places - now 90 percent of the residents have moved away

In the villages that remain, however, there is still a long way from peace, joy and pancakes.

Because almost 90 percent of the residents have long since moved to new settlements.

Most have sold their houses to RWE on favorable terms.

In Kuckum, for example, there are currently around 40 left of the once almost 500 inhabitants.

The Dresen family is one of those who stayed.

"Many have said: You're crazy if you stay here," says Marita Dresen.

Garzweiler opencast mine: why whole villages are demolished

► In 1983, the Garzweiler opencast lignite mine was created as a merger of the existing Frimmersdorf-Süd and Frimmersdorf-West mining fields.

The energy company RWE mines 35-40 million tons of lignite here every year.

► The lignite that is used to generate energy in coal-fired power plants sometimes lies under towns.

If it is necessary to secure the energy supply, the localities have to give way.

The inhabitants are then resettled and the villages demolished.

► The five towns of Keyenberg, Kuckum, Unterwestrich, Oberwestrich and Berverath at the Garzweiler opencast mine were also to be destroyed.

But in the coalition agreement of the black-green NRW state government, it was decided that the places would remain.

► Lützerath, on the other hand, is to be cleared in 2023, according to the agreement between the green-led federal and state ministries of economics on the one hand and RWE on the other.

Her family has lived in the village for generations and is deeply rooted in history.

Leaving was never an option.

Although it was always clear that the home would probably be demolished at some point.

Son David doesn't know any different.

"I had the feeling that this wasn't going to last forever," says the 31-year-old, who has campaigned for years to preserve the villages with the "All Villages Remain" initiative.

The abandoned villages around Lützerath - and how they look today

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Communities in the villages near Lützerath have been torn apart

But in Kuckum and the other four villages near Lützerath, things will never be the same again.

Many houses are empty, the village communities have been torn apart – and so have families: often one part of the family has moved to the new settlement, while the other has stayed.

This sometimes leads to conflicts.

And life in the places is now characterized by new oddities.

At night, metal thieves are often out and about in the almost deserted villages.

"You can hear hammering and knocking and you know: They're getting copper pipes out of the walls again," says Marita Dresen.

Gutters are also a classic, says son David.

Father with dementia stood in front of the door with a pitchfork: "The excavators are coming"

The cemetery of Kuckum: Graves are still being reburied regularly - although the place has been preserved.

© Peter Seven

Only gradually more life returns here and there.

Refugees from the Ukraine are now living in Kuckum, at least temporarily.

And the village community "Kultur-Energie" is planning, among other things, cultural centers, assisted living and places for people with dementia.

This has a very special meaning for Marita Dresen.

Her father had dementia.

"When it became increasingly clear that Kuckum was going to be demolished, the disease progressed very quickly," she says.

Sometimes he stood in front of the door with a pitchfork and called out "Here come the excavators".

This year the father died.

There was no service in the Catholic village church - the Catholic Church did not allow this because the once sacred building has now been desecrated.

"The people from the village helped build this church, financed the benches and the windows," says Marita Dresen, whose father was very actively involved in community work.

As a result, she lost faith in the church.

After all, he could be buried in Kuckum.

Not a matter of course, because graves are still being reburied - although the village has been preserved.

Life is returning to the opencast mining villages around Lützerath

But now they are looking to the future in Kuckum, Keyenberg, Berverath, Oberwestrich and Unterwestrich.

The first residents to leave are considering buying back their homes.

Then maybe they will find new villages with space for new communities that didn't exist before.