Photo Gallery Brown Coal Mining in Germany
A giant open-pit mining area near Cologne has already swallowed up 14 villages, but one local police officer is fighting to protect his home. He has managed to bring his case before Germany's highest court, and its ruling could have major implications for the future of brown coal mining in Germany.
Excavators at work in the Garzweiler open-pit brown coal mine near Cologne.
Foto: Federico Gambarini/ dpa
The Federal Constitutional Court will hear a case this week brought by a homeowner and the Friends of the Earth environmental group against plans by power company RWE Power AG to expand the mining area.
Foto: Federico Gambarini/ dpa
The German Constitutional Court will decide whether more effective legal protection against such mining projects should be implemented. A hearing is set to take place this week. Depending on the court's decision, the enormous Garzweiler II open-pit mining project might have to be revised or even halted entirely.
Foto: Federico Gambarini/ dpa
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