In the Saar-Nahe mountains between Lebach and Saarwellingen lies the northern pit of Bergwerk Saar, the last active coal mine in the Saarland. With its 1751 meters, it was the deepest pit in all of Europe. A superlative, unexpected in a rural region like this.

Today, the white headframe, almost 50 meters high, belongs to the most important industrial buildings of the Saar mining operations.

Another superlative: weighing in at 800 tons, it was the then-heaviest headframe ever constructed in German coal mining.

A passer-by that I met estimated the number of households affected by mine damage in the region to be around 20,000.

He prefers his voice not to be recorded. His brother-in-law had worked in the mines. He told me of his respect for that, and after all many in the region had profited from the coal mines.