Bagger 293

The Tagebau Hambach is a large open-pit coal mine (German: Tagebau) in Niederzier and Elsdorf, North Rhine–Westphalia, Germany. It is operated by RWE and used for mining lignite. The mine is on the site of the ancient Hambach Forest, which was purchased by RWE in 1978. The company then cut most of the forest down and cleared it to mine. Only 10% of the forest area remains. RWE planned to clear half of the remaining area between 2018 and 2020. This plan was met with massive protests in the autumn of 2018 and was temporarily stopped in October 2018 by the supreme administrative court of North Rhine–Westphalia (Oberverwaltungsgericht für das Land Nordrhein-Westfalen).Begun in 1978, the mine's operation area currently (as of end of 2017) has a size of 43.8 km2, with the total area designated for mining having a size of 85 km2. It is the deepest open pit mine with respect to sea level: the bottom of the pit, with up to 500 metres (1,640 ft) from the surface, is 299 metres (981 ft) below sea level, the deepest artificially made point in North Rhine–Westphalia.

Niederzier is a municipality in the district of Düren in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located approximately 10 km north of Düren, and 10 km south-east of Jülich.

Merzenich is a railway station situated at Merzenich, Kreis Düren in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia on the Cologne–Aachen railway. It opened on 29 April 2003 with the S-Bahn tracks. It has an island platform and a large commuter parking area. It is served by Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn lines S13 between Sindorf or Düren and Troisdorf and by S19 between Düren and Hennef (Sieg), Blankenberg (Sieg), Herchen or Au (Sieg). Together these provide two services an hour to Cologne on weekdays and Saturdays and once an hour on Sundays and public holidays. It is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 5 station.

Arnoldsweiler is a village in Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. It is part of the town Düren, situated between Cologne and Aachen. Its population was 3,185 in 2017.

Merzenich is a municipality in the district of Düren in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located approximately 4 km north-east of Düren.

Düren (German pronunciation: [ˈdyːʁən]) is a Kreis (district) in the west of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Heinsberg, Neuss, Rhein-Erft-Kreis, Euskirchen and Aachen.

Buir is a railway station situated at Kerpen, Rhein-Erft-Kreis in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia on the Cologne–Aachen railway. It was opened in 1841 with two platform tracks at an island platform and a passing track. A malt factory located next to the station formerly had a siding. It was rebuilt in 2002 with the construction of the S-Bahn tracks and has two side platforms north and south of the S-Bahn tracks. The northern side platform is separated from the mainline tracks by a noise barrier. Access to the northern platform is via an underpass. It is served by Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn lines S13 between Sindorf or Düren and Troisdorf and by S19 between Düren and Hennef (Sieg), Blankenberg (Sieg), Herchen or Au (Sieg). Together these provide two services an hour to Cologne on weekdays and Saturdays and once an hour on Sundays and public holidays. It is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 5 station.

Hambach Forest (German: Hambacher Wald, Hambacher Forst (German pronunciation: [ˈhambaxɐ ˈfɔʁst] ), Bürgewald, Die Bürge) is an ancient forest located near Buir in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany, between Cologne and Aachen. It was planned to be cleared as part of the Hambach surface mine by owner RWE AG. There were protests and occupations from 2012 against this, and in 2020 a law was passed to preserve it.

Elsdorf is a town in the Rhein-Erft-Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated approximately 5 km south-west of Bergheim and 27 km west of Cologne.

The Sophienhöhe (301.8 m AMSL) is the largest artificial hill worldwide, created by surface mining at the open cast lignite mine Tagebau Hambach operated by RWE Power AG in Düren (district), North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Düren station is located to the north of the centre of Düren and is the largest station in the city and the district of Düren. It is located at the intersection of the Cologne–Aachen high-speed line with the lines to Linnich, Heimbach and Euskirchen. Until 1992 it was also connected to the Erft Railway. The train is served by Regional-Express, Regionalbahn and S-Bahn trains. It is the terminus of line S19 Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn. The station was opened on 1 September 1841 by the Rhenish Railway Company on its original line from Cologne to Belgium.

The LVR-Cultural Centre Village Synagogue Rödingen (German: LVR-Kulturhaus Landsynagoge Rödingen) is located in Rödingen, municipality of Titz, district of Düren, State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is a permanent exhibition in a former synagogue and a former family house of the head (Vorsteher) of the local Jewish community. It is dedicated to Jewish Life in rural Rhineland of past and present. Today the Rödingen synagogue is the only Jewish house of worship in the western Rhineland still largely in its original condition. In 1999 the Landschaftsverband Rheinland (LVR), a assembly of municipalities, bought the entire property with the intention of opening the buildings to the public. The Cultural Centre was opened in September 2009, the European Day of Jewish Culture.