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Industrial panorama points are prominent viewpoints |
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Leithestraße
45886 Gelsenkirchen-Ückendorf
Geodaten
51° 29′ 9.6″ N, 7° 6′ 39.6″ O
RVR-Geodatenserver
Forststation Rheinelbe
Leithestraße 61b
45886 Gelsenkirchen
Fon 02 09 | 1 47 48 44
www.industriewald-ruhrgebiet.nrw.de
ÖPNV
Von Gelsenkirchen Hbf bzw. S-Bf Wattenscheid-Höntrop / Bf Wattenscheid mit Bus 389 bis "Halfmannsweg", dann 15 Minuten Fußweg zum Haldengipfel, 5 Minuten Fußweg zur Forststation
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Faltblatt Industrienatur
The Rheinelbe colliery opened in 1861 and closed as early as 1928. Nonetheless the spoil tips on the site continued to be piled up, or diminished if the material could be used for building purposes. In 1999 the gigantic mining tip south of the former Kray to Wanne railway line, was declared complete. Now it is part of the Emscher Park cycle trail.
The Rheinelbe mining tip links industrial history with nature and art. The summit of the tip is dominated by a huge arrangement of concrete blocks designed by the artist, Herman Prigann; the so-called "Stairway to Heaven". The work dominates the landscape and can even be seen as far away as the parking lot on Virchowstraße. At first sight other sculptures near the forestry station look like the abandoned relics of demolished industrial sites. But on closer inspection it is clear that these are works of art which have been inspired by industry.
The landscape offers a lot of interesting natural features for walkers. The continual changes to the landscape in and around Rheinelbe have left it with adventuresome scarps and gorges; and the fields which were originally covered in the ruins of demolished buildings have been overgrown with uncontrolled natural growth. The jungle of trees, bushes and climbing plants contains a huge variety of flora and fauna and has offered animals a new habitat. A meadow surrounded by a beech trees offers visitors an ideal place to rest and have a picnic. The plants on the spoil tip are not the result of special planning: nature has simply been left to its own devices here. Thus the Rheinelbe is a good example of how nature has re-conquered an abandoned industrial area. The best views of the surrounding area are offered from the top of the 30 metre high "Stairway to Heaven" on the eastern edge of the tip.
