Enduring rainfalls for weeks caused floddings all over the more nothern parts Germany in December 2023. Here in Ruhrort, where the floodplains usually are a leisure area, the lanterns shine, although the area is not accessible, but they bathe the scene in a beautiful light.
It is a bicycle ride of about one hour from my home to where the people from Waltrop enjoy what they have: A little harbour at the Dortmund-Ems Canal and a place to sit and relax.
A coking plant and a steelworks in Duisburg on the Rhine exhaust a lot of fumes and steam. If you take a longer walk to the banks of the river you can watch this spectacular vista.
The Marina Rünthe is a marina on the Datteln-Hamm Canal in Bergkamen. The port was built in 1939 as a loading port for the Werne colliery. After the mine was closed, Klöckner Bergbau Königsborn-Werne AG continued to use the port as a works port, handling hard coal, building materials, grain and mineral oils. In 1995, the conversion for the leisure area took place and the area was prepared as a marina.
The Tetraeder is one of many landmarks the Ruhr Area has built to signal their industrial past and its trust into its structural change. We walked up very early in the morning during the summer solstice to catch the sunrise. Fortunately this moment was fare more beautiful than the sunset itself. After the sunset we hat a very early breakfast atop the artificial hill made of tailings form the nearby coal mines.
To honor the may miners in the Ruhr Area and to spend a little comfort after the mining industry has gone this landmark was set up in Moers on top of the heap Rheinpreussen, what is the name of the former nearby coal mine. A lamp like this was constructed in a way that prevents an explosion which occurs when methane was set free. In modern days electric light were used.
There still is heavy industry in the Ruhr Area and part of that ist this coking plant that supplies the nearby blast furnances. This photograph was taken from the other side of the river Rhine in oder to picture the whole very large plant and the beautiful reflections of the lights at the blue hour.
Calm Water in the Harbor of Dortmund. With no wind and no ships moving I had the opportunity to make this long exposure photograph which gives a little bit of an surreal impression of this otherwise busy an ugly place.