End of an era: Germany closes its last black coal mine
Frank Jordans, Associated Press
Updated 12:22 pm CST, Friday, December 21, 2018
BERLIN (AP) — Straining to hold back tears, their once-white helmets and overalls smeared with dust, seven miners in Germany stepped out of a metal cage Friday bearing the last piece of black coal hauled up from 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) below.
The ceremony marked the end of an industry that laid the foundations for Germany’s industrial revolution and its post-war economic recovery.
The men at the Prosper-Haniel mine symbolically handed the football-sized lump of coal to German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier with the words “Glueck Auf.” The ancient miners’ greeting roughly translates as “good luck,” reflecting the uncertainty of a life spent prospecting deep underground.
