hidden europe 41

The airport question

by hidden europe

Summary

What new European airport welcomed its inaugural flight in April this year and has since closed its doors for a long winter break? The answer is Kassel in Germany, which gets the hidden europe wooden spoon for the biggest transport flop of the year.

New airports are a touchy topic in Germany. The much-vaunted new airport for Berlin is vastly over budget and years late in opening. Originally scheduled to receive its first flights in 2010, we were looking forward to the much-delayed opening in June 2012. Just three weeks prior to the launch, word came that some minor details still needed attention and the opening would be delayed. Those minor details are evidently not so trivial, for Berliners still have no confirmed opening date for their new airport.

The debacle in Berlin is however not quite as farcical as the events in Kassel (in the German state of Hessen).

Related articleFull text online

Conflicts of interest: Mining and World Heritage

UNESCO's World Heritage List includes many citations which showcase former mining activities. The extractive industries have led to the development of some of Europe's most distinctive cultural landscapes. But the recent addition of a gold mining site in Romania to the list sparks tensions between conservation and economic interests.

Related articleFull text online

The lost kingdom

A 1924 essay by Joseph Roth on an unsung railway station in Berlin fired our imagination and inspired us to take the train to Gleisdreieck - an elevated station that in Roth's day looked down on a tangled maze of railway lines and sidings. Nowadays, nature is reclaiming the industrial landscapes of yesteryear.

Related article

Lost at sea: a Frisian tale

There are two sides to Sylt. The east has soggy edges as tidal flats and salt marshes separate Sylt from the German and Danish mainland. The other side can be wild and treacherous, a place where shrapnel spray pounds the beach and bodies are washed ashore.