A project by Arne Müseler
I have been traveling to the mining area regularly since 2006
Current updates to this page
- 2021-06-08 - Big update of the pages "Immerath" and "Lützerath" (before and after photos added)
- 2021-06-07 - Minor update page "Otzenrath"
- 2021-05-29 - Mining data updated in overview map (according to policy decision 2021)
- 2019-11-02 - Various errors corrected
- 2019-10-26 - Completely new homepage published.
- 2019-10-24 - "Immerather Mill" updated with a before and after photo.
- 2019-10-24 - Page "Otzenrath" created.
- 2019-10-18 - Interview with Britta Kox added to the pages "Berverath" and "How does relocation work".
My name is Arne Müseler and I am a photographer from Salzburg in Austria. I originally come from the Ruhr area. I was still living there when I visited the Garzweiler opencast mine for the first time in 2006.
Actually I just wanted to look at the huge hole in the opencast mine. By chance I came to the completely deserted village of Otzenrath via a closed highway that was slated for demolition. The impression of this village, the abandoned schools and churches, the empty highway and the resulting lunar landscape of the opencast mine made a deep impression on me.
I have now returned dozens of times and my work has changed from just photographing the empty buildings to a more comprehensive approach. I want to show how places develop over time. From the thriving village to the pit, in all aspects.
I conduct interviews with residents, I take part in shooting festivals and church demolitions and try to get an overall picture for myself.
And this overall picture should ultimately be conveyed via this page. That can hardly succeed, I'm realistic about that, but I hope that you get a good first impression of what's happening there in the Rhineland, why it's happening and what it's doing to the people there.
I don't want to take sides for or against opencast mining, I just want to try to portray what happens there as closely as possible to reality.
I hope I succeed and I look forward to any feedback and criticism.