The Meuro mine was a former open-cast mine located in the state of Brandenburg, Germany that was in operation from 1958 to 1999. It was a source of lignite, often referred to as brown coal, which was used in local factories and power stations. It was one of a number of mines in the Lusatia area which left a massive water debt when the water was pumped out for the operation of the mine. This had to be remediated by the company, Lausitzer und Mitteldeutsche Bergbau-Verwaltungsgesellschaft (LMBV), a state-owned company. The area was flooded and converted into a multi-use recreation and tourism area.^[1]

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Quick Facts Location, Country ...

Meuro coal mine

Location
Brandenburg
Country	Germany
Production
Products	Coal
Production	300 Million tons
Type	Open-pit mining
History
Opened	1958
Closed	1999
Owner
Company	LMBV

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The opencast mine was located in Niederlausitz in the Niederlausitz lignite district. It was north of the city of Senftenberg and south of Großräschen. On the west it was bounded by Bundesautobahn 13, the Priestewitz – Cottbus railway line on the east, and the Bundesstraße 96 to the north.

In 1958, the drainage work began and the exploration work was carried out two years later. The opencast mine consisted of the main field and two sub-fields, Hörlitz and Großräschen. The outcrop was in a northeastern direction. From 1965 to 1970 the opencast mine was in the Hörlitz subfield, from 1970 to 1988 in the main field, and from 1988 to 1999 in the Großräschen subfield.

The Lausitzer und Mitteldeutsche Bergbau-Verwaltungsgesellschaft (LMBV) rehabilitated the area of the former mine, a process which is still ongoing.^[2] The tilted embankments were flattened, and former landfills were removed or secured. The former open-cast mine infrastructure was dismantled and some ware preserved. In addition, the mine water was raised and cleaned.

The newly created areas of the post-mining landscape are used for leisure and energy production. The remaining holes were filled with water to create multiple lakes with the biggest being the Großräschener lake, which was filled until 2018.^[3] In January 2018 the water level reached 98.5 m above sea level. NHN. ^[3]The Großräschener lake is connected to the Sedlitzer lake via the Sorno Canal, which arose from the Sedlitz opencast mine.

• The Großräschen pier in 2019
• The same pier in 2009
• The Großräschen harbor in 2016
• The same harbor in 2019
• The boardwalk along the water

In 2000 the motor racing track Lausitzring was built on the refilled area of the Hörlitz subfield.

The European Route of Industrial Heritage is presented on the banks of the future lake in Großräschen at the IBA terraces in an exhibition and information center. This is also the station of the European Route of Industrial Heritage. In 2005 the pier, the future landing stage, was built on Großräschener See.

The Bucket Wheel Excavator 1473 has been standing on the southwestern edge of the mine since 2003 (also called the Blue Wonder because of the color). It had been in use almost continuously in the Meuro opencast mine since 1965 and was the only opencast mine that remained on site. At the beginning of 2019, however, it became known that the excavator was to be scrapped.^[4]

Parts of the mine were flooded to make the Großräschener See.

Further uses include:

• Solarpark Senftenberg/Schipkau
• EuroSpeedway Lausitz

• Overburden Conveyor Bridge F60
• Bagger 1473