Villagers of Pödelwitz call on federal politicians to preserve their village

The remaining inhabitants of the village of Pödelwitz in the district of Leipzig are calling on federal politicians to work towards the "true" preservation of their village. During a visit by Green MPs on Wednesday, the "Pödelwitz hat Zukunft" association handed over an open letter calling on federal politicians to play an active role in the revitalization. The demand applies to Pödelwitz, but also to rescued villages in the Rhineland mining area such as Keyenberg, Kuckum and Berverath.

""Rescued" currently means that these villages are largely empty and their houses are falling into disrepair," the letter states. The energy companies RWE and Mibrag are preventing a revival. They own a large proportion of the houses in these villages.

In Pödelwitz, 80 percent of the land has been transferred to Mibrag. The mining company had bought them from residents willing to relocate when Pödelwitz was still threatened with excavation. At the beginning of 2021, it then became known that Mibrag no longer wanted to mine the coal under Pödelwitz and in the Groitzscher Dreieck.

The villagers are demanding, among other things, a dissolution of the ownership structure of RWE and Mibrag "in the interests of the common good". The buildings should be socialized - for example through cooperatives. They are also demanding more involvement in the revitalization of the villages and criticizing "delaying tactics".

On request, Mibrag stated that the processes involved are time-consuming. On the one hand, regional planning issues had to be clarified. On the other hand, the town of Groitzsch, to which Pödelwitz belongs, has started a participation process. The ideas and proposals for the development of the village are to be discussed there. "The discussion process has started, but no short-term decisions are to be expected in this context," explained spokesman Sebastian Exner. For this reason, Mibrag is not currently pursuing any plans to sell its properties. The properties would be secured and regularly monitored.