Aussichtspunkt Skywalk Jackerath

The Skywalk Jackerath is a viewing platform operated by energy company RWE on the edge of Garzweiler II, one of Europe's largest open-cast lignite mines. The wheelchair-accessible steel structure looks directly into the terraced excavation pit, which cuts across roughly 48 square kilometres of the Lower Rhine Basin — bucket-wheel excavators standing up to 96 metres tall operate within clear sight. The platform offers a striking record of a fading industrial era: with Germany's planned coal phase-out by 2030, active mining now runs alongside large-scale land reclamation, the earliest results of which are already visible from the walkway.