Brockenscheidt slag heap with trackwork tower - Waltrop mine
"Useful art with a great view"
The Brockenscheidt slag heap is one of the smallest slag heaps in the Ruhr area, but subjectively the favorite on our 4-slag heap tour. It is "only" 15 meters high above ground, but its highlight is not only the diverse vegetation with deciduous trees such as the slag heap-typical birch, the sycamore maple, the goat willow, many woody plantations and plenty of space for spontaneous growth.
The Castrop-Rauxel artist Jan Bormann built the "trackwork tower" on the highest plateau from 1000 meters of used track slats from mining (beams on which a conveyor cage was guided in the shaft). From its viewing platform at a height of 12 meters you get one of the best views of the slag heaps in the area - even though the Brockenscheidt slag heap is one of the smallest. If the visibility is good, you can look out over the eastern Ruhr area from the pyramid-shaped installation, not only to the Waltrop mine located directly at its foot and the Lüntec Tower ("Colani Egg") on the former Minister Achenbach mine shaft 4.
Of the numerous installations on former slag heaps, the "Spurwerksturm" is probably one of the most popular for several reasons. Bormann naturally needed modern metal stairs to make it accessible, his actual material, wood, is the most natural, the material comes from used mining, to which a reference is to be made - and from a very pragmatic point of view, the people who come here can also "use" the work of art. Bormann's work not only refers to the history of the site, in fact it basically consists of exactly that and allows visitors not only to look at the factory itself, but also to enjoy wonderful, really worthwhile views of the surrounding area.
However, it is only recommended to a very limited extent for racing bikes on tough, narrow 23-inch tires.