Brown coal mining played a crucial role in the GDR. It is therefore unsurprising that the issue of reusing depleted areas had been one of urgency since the founding of the GDR state. This book traces the emergence of a research network addressing this issue as well as the practical implementation of research findings, focusing on the period 1949 to the mid-1970s, the pinnacle of GDR environmental policy.

Martin Baumert, German Mining Museum, Bochum, Germany.