Medieval church transported eight miles on a giant buggy

German church finds new home after making way for coal mine

Oct 30, 2007

Borna, Germany - A 750-year-old German church that was moved to make way for a coal mine reached its new home on Tuesday after a six-day journey by road.

A large flat-bed truck transported the Emmaus Church on its 12-kilometre trip from the almost abandoned village of Heuersdorf to Borna, a town of 22,000 in the eastern state of Saxony.

The journey across two rivers and two railway lines went smoothly and took a day less than expected, according to Regina Messlinger, the engineer in charge of the project,

'We held our breath when we reached the market square, because there was only a finger-width of room between the church and the surrounding houses,' she said.

In the coming days, the church will be moved a few more metres and placed on its new foundation.

The nearly 1,000-ton building was moved to make way for a lignite open cast mine. The cost of the operation, being paid for by mining company Mibrag, is estimated at 3 million euros (4 million dollars).

The operation to lift the church onto the truck took up most of November 23. Ahead of the move, a steel-girder frame was assembled under the church before a hydraulic lift raised it 1.6 metres for the transporter to drive underneath.

Some of the steel supports were removed for the final stage at the market square in Borna, where the clearance was just two centimetres on each side.

The route took the ancient church over the rivers Wyhra and Pleisse and two railway crossings.

Mibrag secured the rights to strip mine in Heuersdorf only after a 10-year battle through the courts. Around 80 per cent of the village's 320 inhabitants have been moved.

Lignite mining and using the low-quality 'brown coal' to fire power stations has become increasingly controversial in the light of concerns over the impact of carbon dioxide emissions on climate change.

© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur