New life in the coal towns of Erkelenz: education and meetings in “Cafe No. 5”

“Education and meetings in the area” is the goal of “Cafe No. 5”, which has now officially opened in the Schwalbenhof in Barber. A large white sign next to the arch of the former farm indicates the additional function of the walls. Before the opening, where a surprising number of guests came to the small town in the evening, an exhibition was organized by the regional association Rhineland as part of the project “Stories of the Rhenish Revier”. The exhibition was created together with the Rheinisches Revier democracy workshop at the Nell-Breuning-Haus Herzogenrath after five villages in the eastern part of Erkelenz, which were supposed to have no future, are now being preserved by the boundaries of the open field of Garzweiler II. brown coal mine changed and the end of coal mining was sealed. But the path to an uncertain future is far from clear.

What does the future look like? Is it possible to regenerate the villages or are they considering converting them to another use? Cafe No. 5, which was also launched by the Democracy Workshop, intends to offer support here. As interesting as looking forward is looking back, looking at the past centuries and the origins of the towns as well as the past years, the resistance, the resettlement, loss of home and surrender to fate that seems inevitable.

“We want to have a physical presence on site,” explained Jonathan Querg of the Democracy Workshop. The cafe is expected to be a place in the old towns to meet and share ideas. Workshops, conferences, exhibitions, film screenings and much more will also take place there, according to the idea for the project, which is initially funded by the Nell Breuning House and the Foundation -Environment and Development for North Rhine-Westphalia for two years. “This is a good start to the revival of the small towns,” said Norbert Winzen from Keyenberg, who like other local residents came to Barber for the official opening of the cafe. “This can be a point of contact for many.” Maybe the room doesn’t feel comfortable yet. The windows that were supposed to be delivered a few weeks ago are missing. A long time comes with heating as well. Sanitation facilities are still missing. When completed, the enclosed room will accommodate 20 people. Larger events could be held outside or in a large barn if the weather is good.

“We hope that we can start our program in Cafe No. 5 in January,” said Manfred Körber of Nell Breuning House in Herzogenrath. Like many people, including Superintendent Jens Sannig from the Jülich Protestant Church District, he came to the Schwalbenhof to see the starting signal with an open fire and mulled wine in the cool evening.

Cafe No. 5 is a cafe in the usual sense, said Körber. In particular there will be events, conferences and seminars on the topics of brown coal, resettlement and the future of the people in the reserved villages. Information about this is already available below www.cafe-nr5.de available. In addition, the cafe will also be available for other events, such as readings or small concerts. “The offer should be low,” House representative Nell Breuning said. While his facility provides an organized program, volunteers will otherwise work in Cafe No. 5. It should be up to them when and how often the cafe is open and offers home-baked cakes and drinks. “You can and should meet here,” says Körber. He sees Nell Breuning House as an educational partner in the project and wants to address social and ecological issues at the various events. “We want to create a public space here.”

The cafe could be a place of communication for people from the surrounding villages, but it could also be a destination for walkers and cyclists who want to take a breather there. In addition, Cafe No. 5 to be the start and end of bike demos and city tours. The range and possibilities are wide. In addition to the exhibition “Stories of the Rhenish Revier”, where exhibits on the history of lignite mining and extraction are still sought after, the new cafe is another building block in presenting and helping to shaping the destiny and future of the region. It is not yet clear whether there will be such points of contact for those affected by Keyenberg, Kuckum, Ober- and Unterwestrich, but it would be desirable for Winzen.