Geisel valley

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the region was characterized by mostly independent pits (Elisabeth 1906, Großkayna 1907, Beuna 1907, Cecilie 1907, Rheinland 1908, Leonhardt 1910, Pfännershall 1911).

The immense coal deposits in the Geisel Valley and its favorable transport conditions also led to the development of several chemical plants settled.

The Mächeln opencast mine, founded in 1949 by merging several existing abbeys (including Pauline, Elisabeth, Emma, and Elise II), charred mainly the western Geisel Valley, while the opencast mining Großkayna, founded 1949 (from the Grube Rheinland) and Kayna-Süd.

Subsequently, the open-cast mine Kayna-Süd was shut down and rehabilitated as early as 1972, resulting in the Südfeldsee with 2.6 km2 (1 sq mi) of water surface.

Both of today's lakes are separated from the Geiseltalsee by a tipping dam up to 140 m (459 ft) Open-cast mining activities ended in the late 1990s, and subsequently, nature has reclaimed part of the region.

Due to the sandy soil, special flora and fauna community has re-emerged, especially on the northern edge of the valley.

It has yielded many important specimens of the Eocene including Propalaeotherium, Godinotia, Lophiodon, Oxyaenoides, Asiatosuchus, Geoemyda, Trogulidae and Psiloptera.

remnants of old pit mine being flooded
In the late 1990s, the old pit mine was converted to a recreation area, flooding the deepest part of the mine with water.
Harbor area of old pit mine.
The remains of the pit mine were flooded to create recreational and natural areas.