The 1,000-year-old village planned for demolition that's been abandoned for 10 years
An urban explorer who visited a German village that was evacuated in 2015 to make way for a coal mine discovered only 8 families remain in the eerie ghost town
A small village inhabited for at least 1,000 years now lies completely deserted following the evacuation of its residents. In 2013, German authorities decided to relocate Morschenich's 500 inhabitants approximately two miles away to a new settlement bearing the same name. The original plans involved the expansion of a massive open cast coal mine on the site of the former village.
However, while all residents of the German village of Morschenich-Alt (or Old Morschenich) had been relocated by 2015, the settlement itself remains standing, and the coal mine proposals have been abandoned. The neighbouring Hambach open-pit lignite mine, a 300-metre-deep excavation covering approximately 44 square kilometres, has been decomissioned.
There are now discussions about renaming the deserted "ghost town" and transforming it into a "village of the future". Yet these proposals remain suspended, and the settlement – potentially to be renamed Bürgewald – stands hauntingly vacant, with the majority of its streets and properties abandoned and gradually being overtaken by vegetation. Remarkably, despite these circumstances, a tiny number of individuals have actually taken up residence in the ghostly, forsaken village.
Urban explorer Colin, who documents his expeditions on his Bearded Explorer channel, has visited the haunting "ghost town," and even spoke with one of its scarce residents.
However, while Colin wandered through the empty streets, he stumbled upon one rather surprising discovery, and learned that a substantial portion of the village's future plans remains unclear. Colin explained: "It's very eerie, it'll be interesting to see what they actually do with this place, but I guess only time will tell." For now so much of the once-thriving town is completely overgrown – with weeds and grass bursting through paths and driveways and trees and hedges threatening to completely swallow the deserted houses.
The village's church has been completely gutted by fire. "You can still see some of the beautiful walls inside there, but sadly, there's really not much left of it anymore," Colin added.
Most of Morschenich's shops and houses have been sealed, in some cases with doorways completely bricked-up, making it difficult to see inside the structures. The villagers weren't given much time to move out, with Colin explaining: " You can imagine there's quite a lot of angry residents who are probably wishing they'd never moved out in the first place."
Colin remarked that the streets were so eerily empty, it felt as though the world had ended and he was amongst the last survivors. He continued: "It's just so strange walking down a road that should be really busy this time of day, but it's just not."
Despite the fact that Morschenich is now almost entirely abandoned, to his tremendous surprise Colin managed to encounter someone who lives there. Sadly, the man spoke no English, but with the help of a translation app, he was able to paint a picture of what the village looks like today. Colin went on: "He told us there are only eight families living in here now...five along this road. and two along the other half. That is just mind-blowing."
The man revealed that none of the original German inhabitants remained, with the small number of residents now calling the village home hailing from countries including Turkey, Afghanistan and Egypt.
As Colin explored the village, he encountered numerous instances where buildings and pavements were beginning to crumble, with just a decade of neglect allowing nature to almost entirely reclaim the area.
He noted that there are aspirations to transform the now-abandoned coal mine into a vast inland sea, though locals have raised questions about the feasibility of such plans: "While Mossnik became a ghost town, the decision to halt the mining expansion in the area has allowed the village to avoid total destruction and instead move forward to rehabilitation on a new development,"
Colin explains. "As of July 2024, the town was renamed Bürgewald, meaning place of the future. Its shift from planned demolition to revive the community and of course reversing the initial status of an abandoned village.
"There may be new hope on the horizon for the town, but what would happen to the mine? There are talks of flooding it and turning the 19 square mile pit into a lake. But where would the water come from? Only time will tell what the future truly holds for this place."
