Heap of large wood

With an area of ​​140 hectares, Großes Holz is one of the largest heaps in the region. At the same time, it is one of the best vantage points in the eastern Ruhr area and guarantees views as far as Dortmund, the Lippe lowlands and the Sauerland. Its name derives from a beech forest that existed until the 1970s. Today the heap is a local recreation area with a corridor park and grass field. Her heart: the Adenerhöhe. The "favourite color" of planners: blue.

Up until the early 1970s, many former mining sites were predominantly characterized by gray pointed cone heaps and sparsely greened table heaps. However, there was an increasing rethinking with regard to possible uses, and today many heaps present themselves as attractive landscape marks with ecological and artistic value. Following a concept of Ruhrkohle AG, environmental concerns and landscape design were already included in the planning during the filling. The Großes Holz heap is a successful example of this. From 1962 it was used to dispose of tailings from the Monopol and Haus Aden collieries. Initially, only the southern part of the heap was recultivated - the Adenerhöhe, at 148 meters above sea level the highest point in the heap complex. From here, the view extends far beyond the region. Since 2010, the 30 meter high light sculpture "Impuls" by the Cologne artists Maik and Dirk Löbbert has crowned the summit; it consists of steel pillars studded with around 15.000 LED lights. Four years later, the plateau was redesigned with an elliptical concrete surface and a staircase. After the two mines had been shut down, the recultivation of the central and northern heap area began: in 2006, the RVR acquired the tailings dump, two years later the so-called corridor park was completed, which connects all public heap areas as a west-east axis. The defining style element here is the color blue. Nine shimmering blue "lighthouses" made of steel and Plexiglas, which are intended to remind of the headframe of the Monopol mine, line the path, blue flowering perennial areas and gabions filled with blue glass complete the picture - as a continuation of the "Blue Ribbon" in Bergkamen, a water and mosaic course. Over two million euros were invested in the expansion. The EU and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia funded 90 percent of the project as part of the Ecology Program Emscher-Lippe (ÖPEL). Another ten percent are own funds from the RVR. The concept also includes a grass field and the tree plateau designed with pines and conifers. The north-western part of the heap on the canal - the "canal belt" - is still used for dumping. A "natural arena" is planned here in the future.

Due to its artistic design with light elements, the Großes Holz heap is not only appreciated by photographers. Due to its hiking and cycling trails, it has also established itself as a popular year-round recreational and leisure area in the greater Bergkamen area. The planned "natural arena" should start here and, for example, make cultural events on the heap possible in the future. A webcam at a height of 120 meters already provides insights into the changing times of the day and seasons on the heap.