BERLIN, Dec 21, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Germany will close its last black coal
mine on Friday, a milestone marking the end of a 200-year-old industry that
once fuelled the country’s economic growth but lost the battle against
cheaper foreign competitors.
The remaining 1,500 workers of the Prosper-Haniel mine in Bottrop will make
their final descent into the pit’s belly, greeting each other one more time
with the traditional “Glueck auf, Kumpel”, or “Good luck, buddy”.
The miners will end their shift by bringing up the last chunk of “black
gold” and handing it to President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, in a ceremony also
to be attended by European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker.
A mining choir will sing the miners’ anthem “Steigerlied” and local
churches will hold special services in what promises to be a poignant
farewell to a historic era in western Germany’s industrial Ruhr heartland.
The 150-year-old deep-shaft colliery, whose galleries were dug by six
generations of miners, will then be sealed up for good.
“There’s a deep sadness now that it’s all going to be over soon,” miner
Thomas Echtermeyer, 47, told the Bild newspaper.
Although the closure comes amid a growing environmental outcry against
coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel, it wasn’t pollution concerns but cheaper
imports from abroad that sounded the mine’s death knell.
– ‘Thanks, buddy’ –
With its own vernacular, songs, football clubs and masses dedicated to the
miners’ patron saint Barbara, mining is woven deeply into the fabric of daily
life in the Ruhr region.
Bundesliga clubs in the area, who owe their origins to local mining
communities, are marking Prosper-Haniel’s closure with tributes to their
shared heritage.
Schalke on Wednesday invited 2,000 miners to their game against Leverkusen.
And on Saturday, Borussia Dortmund players will wear the message “Danke,
Kumpel” on their chests, which means both “thanks, buddy” and “thanks,
miner”.
In a reminder of the dangers of the job, a 29-year-old man died in another
recently shuttered mine in the same state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where
dismantling work is ongoing.
The industrial mechanic died from injuries suffered after getting trapped
by a heavy door.
– No coal exit yet –
Dating back to the 19th century, the coal mines, plants and steel mills
that once dotted the Ruhr basin were long the beating heart of Germany’s
industrial prowess, powering its economic “miracle” after World War II.
At its peak, the mining industry employed some 600,000 people.
But Germany’s dominance in the black-coal market started to wane in the
1960s as foreign rivals made it cheaper to import the raw material.
Today, most of the black coal, also known as hard coal, used in Germany’s
coal-fired power plants comes from Russia, the United States, Australia and
Colombia.
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government decided in 2007 to phase out state
aid and shutter the last black coal mines by 2018 — giving the workers of
Prosper-Haniel 11 years’ notice.
The long preparation has been credited with avoiding large-scale upheaval
or angry protests, with many opting for early retirement schemes.
“We made sure nobody was left high and dry,” Michael Vassiliadis, head of
the IG BCE mining union, told the DPA news agency.
Some of the pitmen will continue to labour at the Prosper-Haniel site for
now to carry out dismantling tasks.
The company in charge of the clean-up will also need people in the years
ahead to pump out dirty mine water to avoid it from mixing with groundwater
and possibly contaminating drinking water resources.
Germany’s goodbye to black-coal mining is by no means an exit from coal
altogether: the fossil fuel still accounts for almost 40 percent of its
energy mix — partly because of Merkel’s decision to ditch nuclear power.
To the dismay of environmentalists, Germany still has numerous open-pit
mines that extract lignite or brown coal, which is softer, cheaper and more
polluting than black coal.
But it’s an industry increasingly under threat as countries around the
world look for ways to phase out fossil fuels to combat climate change.
A government-appointed commission will in February announce a roadmap for
exiting coal as part of efforts to make Germany carbon-neutral by 2050.