Cycle tour through the Leipziger Land - No.1

Last week i visited my hometown Leipzig. Despite bad weather I've made a small cycle tour through the southern Leipziger Land. This region is also called Neuseenland (new-lakes-landscape). It's an old open-cast mine area, which is being converted into a small lake district. It will be finished approximately 2012.

It's a photo of the (new) Lake Störmthal - one of circa 15 new lakes. Final size: 730 hectare.

The extensive mining of brown coal formed the “old” cultivated landscape (agriculturally used area before the mining) with all its living spaces and gave it a new face. There was an empty obviously useless and desolate landscapes left.

Until a few years ago there were the cavities left by open-cast mining - today there is the Lake Cospuden with a new settlement.

The aim is the reclamation of this area for human beings, animals and plants. The efforts and changes of the last fifteen years to reach this aim are surely singular.

But!!! ...there are still open-cast mining in the southern Leipziger Land for which entire villages are excavated into oblivion!

Chris