From the former Hassel coking plant to the new paradise for animals and plants
Green pipes and strange steel containers mark the entrance to one of the youngest local recreation areas in the Ruhr area. It is located in Hassel, one of the northernmost districts of Gelsenkirchen near the city limits of Herten. The green hills, overgrown with numerous colorful flowering wild plants in summer, and the lake now hardly give any indication of what once was here. For almost 50 years, the site was under the influence of a central coking plant with a large coke oven battery with over 250 ovens and the neighboring hard coal power plant. They all belonged to the Westerholt colliery on the other side of the city limits, which was closed as the “Lippe mine” in 2008.
The heart of the Hassel coking plant can be seen in the historical aerial photo from the early 1980s. The coke ovens, gasometers, the dump in the foreground and the power plant behind the railway system with the numerous freight wagons are clearly visible.