{"id":10395,"date":"2018-12-22T10:00:31","date_gmt":"2018-12-22T10:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=10395"},"modified":"2018-12-22T01:09:07","modified_gmt":"2018-12-22T01:09:07","slug":"the-end-of-germanys-coal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/the-end-of-germanys-coal\/","title":{"rendered":"The End of Germany&#8217;s Coal"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong><em>Die letzte Zeche wurde geschlossen!<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Deutscher Steinkohlebergbau beendet\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VcrfBe2XTWQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In 2007, Germany decided to phase out hard coal production in 2018, which was today.\u00a0<em>Steinkohle\u00a0<\/em>was an important component to rebuild Germany after the Second World War. The reason is simple: Germany&#8217;s coal was simply no longer competitive on the global market.<\/p>\n<p>The last day of\u00a0<em>Steinkohlef\u00f6rderung\u00a0<\/em>(hard coal mining) took place at\u00a0<em>Schachtanlage<\/em>\u00a0(shaft mine) Prosper-Haniel\u00a0in Bottrop. It was celebrated with many important\u00a0<em>Figuren\u00a0<\/em>(figures) of the German political world.\u00a0Germany&#8217;s\u00a0<em>Bundespr\u00e4sident\u00a0<\/em>(Federal president) Walter Steinmeier received the very last\u00a0<em>Steinkohlest\u00fcck\u00a0<\/em>(piece of hard coal) from four miners.<\/p>\n<p><em>Es war ein trauriger Moment\u00a0<\/em>(It was a sad moment).<\/p>\n<p><em>Das war der schlimmste Tag meines Lebens\u00a0<\/em>(That was the worst day of my life).<\/p>\n<p><em>Eine Epoche geht zu Ende\u00a0<\/em>(An epoch comes to an end).<\/p>\n<p><em>F\u00fcr uns Bergleute war es unsere Welt.\u00a0<\/em>(For us mineworkers, it was our world).<\/p>\n<p>It was an emotional day.<\/p>\n<p>However, it was unavoidable. Already in the 1970s, coal had problems. It needed\u00a0<em>Subventionen\u00a0<\/em>(subsidies) to stay alive, and only now, it is being phased out. Currently, the world coal price is 85 euros per ton, but it costs 170 euros to win a ton of coal in Germany. So that marked the end of German hard coal mining.<\/p>\n<h2><em><strong>Kumpel<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_10400\" style=\"width: 764px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter post-item__attachment\"><a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/p\/8aoZAQ\" aria-label=\"Kumpel 1024x768\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10400\" class=\" wp-image-10400\"  alt=\"\" width=\"754\" height=\"565\" \/ src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2018\/12\/Kumpel-1024x768.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2018\/12\/Kumpel.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2018\/12\/Kumpel-350x263.jpg 350w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2018\/12\/Kumpel-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 754px) 100vw, 754px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-10400\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Kumpel from the Ruhrgebiet, the industrial area in the west of Germany (Image by m.prinke at Flickr.com under license CC BY SA 2.0)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The term\u00a0<em>Kumpel\u00a0<\/em>traditionally meant &#8220;miner&#8221;, but it has become such a symbol of\u00a0<em>Verbundenheit\u00a0<\/em>(solidarity) and\u00a0<em>Freundschaft\u00a0<\/em>(friendship), because you have to be able to rely on your fellow\u00a0<em>Kumpel<\/em>, that it has become a normal term. People refer to friends as their\u00a0<em>Kumpel<\/em>, and that meaning has even taken over its traditional meaning!\u00a0For example!<\/p>\n<p><em>Alles klar, Kumpel? Ich hoffe, dir geht es gut!<\/em><\/p>\n<p>(Everything alright, mate? I hope you&#8217;re doing good!)<\/p>\n<p>Another typical term is\u00a0<em>Gl\u00fcck auf!<\/em>, which is a simple way to wish another\u00a0<em>Kumpel\u00a0<\/em>good luck.<\/p>\n<h2><em><strong>Probleme<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_10401\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter post-item__attachment\"><a href=\"https:\/\/de.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tagebau_Garzweiler#\/media\/File:Bagger-garzweiler.jpg\" aria-label=\"Schaufelradbagger 1024x301\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10401\" class=\"size-large wp-image-10401\"  alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"301\" \/ src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2018\/12\/Schaufelradbagger-1024x301.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2018\/12\/Schaufelradbagger-1024x301.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2018\/12\/Schaufelradbagger-350x103.jpg 350w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2018\/12\/Schaufelradbagger-768x226.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2018\/12\/Schaufelradbagger.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-10401\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Such a\u00a0<em>Schaufelradbagger\u00a0<\/em>(bucket-wheel excavator) is one of the largest vehicles on the planet, and these giants are still being used to mine lignite, or brown coal, in Germany today (Image by Martinroell at Commons.wikimedia.org under license CC BY 2.5)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>There are, however, problems with exiting coal. Not only do the workers need new\u00a0<em>Arbeitspl\u00e4tze\u00a0<\/em>(jobs), but also do the tunnels below lead to\u00a0<em>Absacken des Bodens\u00a0<\/em>(sinking of the soil) and\u00a0<em>Rissen in Geb\u00e4uden\u00a0<\/em>(tears in buildings). And because of the\u00a0<em>Absacken<\/em>, the\u00a0<em>Grundwasser\u00a0<\/em>(groundwater) is closer to the surface, often comes through and leads to ponds, which need to be dammed and kept under maintenance. Furthermore,\u00a0<em>Regenwasser\u00a0<\/em>(rain water) flows into the tunnels and stays there, taking up the toxic substances in the mines and could mix with the\u00a0<em>Grundwasser<\/em>. It therefore needs to be pumped up to the surface and be removed. And finally, the\u00a0<em>Grubengeb\u00e4ude\u00a0<\/em>(mine buildings) need to be converted, for example into\u00a0<em>Kulturh\u00e4user\u00a0<\/em>(cultural centers).<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Aus f\u00fcr Steinkohlebergbau: &quot;F\u00fcr die Umwelt ist es noch kein Sieg&quot;\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9I8bkmpN8ok?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>This can also not be celebrated as a triumph for the environment. For one, the coal will now simply be imported from other countries. And furthermore, Germany remains one of the largest producers of\u00a0<em>Braunkohle<\/em>\u00a0(lignite, or brown coal). This surface-mined coal is still an important driver of energy generation in the republic, and it is not expected to be phased out for another decade or two.<\/p>\n<p>If you are curious to see more about German mining and the people behind it, the German channel WDR made a short documentary last year of Andy, a\u00a0<em>Kumpel\u00a0<\/em>in the Ruhrgebiet. It is a 360\u00b0 video, so you can look around as well as you watch!<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Ein Kumpel-Tag mit Andy in 360\u00b0  | WDR\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/baUeRqE-fRU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Does your country have coal mines? How is it handled there? Let me know in the comments below!<\/strong><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<img width=\"350\" height=\"103\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2018\/12\/Schaufelradbagger-350x103.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2018\/12\/Schaufelradbagger-350x103.jpg 350w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2018\/12\/Schaufelradbagger-768x226.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2018\/12\/Schaufelradbagger-1024x301.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2018\/12\/Schaufelradbagger.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><p>Die letzte Zeche wurde geschlossen! In 2007, Germany decided to phase out hard coal production in 2018, which was today.\u00a0Steinkohle\u00a0was an important component to rebuild Germany after the Second World War. The reason is simple: Germany&#8217;s coal was simply no longer competitive on the global market. The last day of\u00a0Steinkohlef\u00f6rderung\u00a0(hard coal mining) took place at\u00a0Schachtanlage\u00a0(shaft&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"post-item__readmore\"><a class=\"btn btn--md\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/the-end-of-germanys-coal\/\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":10401,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,8,913],"tags":[4710,551758],"class_list":["post-10395","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-language","category-traditions","tag-coal","tag-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/110"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10395"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10395\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10403,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10395\/revisions\/10403"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}