Halde Hoheward – A new Stonhenge

The landscape of the Ruhr valley is formed by its more then 1000 years of industrial history. It is famous for the mining of coal and smelting of ore. Since the 80ys the remnants of this industry – toxic ground and water – are recultivated in enormous projects of landscape architecture. Halde Hoheward near Recklinghausen is one of the biggest mining piles in Europe. This artificial mountain consists of 150 million barrels of rubble from two adjoining underground mines. It reaches over 150 meters high.

Today this mining pile is populated with bushes, fern and black pines and nature is slowly conquering back this landscape. The hillside is accessible for hikers through bridges, stairways, and spiral pathways.
The top of this mining pile is designed as a horizon observatory like the famous monument of Stonehenge. The observatory consists of a circular platform which has a lowered middle, so that an artificial horizon is generated. It is canopied by two curved steel tubes which divide the sky into west and east half. The observatory can be used to visualize the changing of moon and sun.

For me, as I am deeply rooted in this landscape, the mixture of manmade wasteland, architectural art and the reconquering of nature is absolute stunning. Standing on the highest point (where I took the last photo) you get a feeling of absolute loneliness, all is wide and empty, although this region is densely populated. The colours seem to be bleed away, and a misty grey light illuminates the plateau. Nature and architecture blend into abstract forms which are art in themselves.

This is my entry for the #bwphotocontest from @daveks with the theme 'nature abstracts' - thank you for organizing it!!!

All photos were made with my old lumix G5 camera