The Lusatian Lakeland project in eastern Germany is transforming former open-cast lignite mines into a massive artificial lake landscape. According to Euronews reporting, the project encompasses 23 human-made post-mining lakes with a total water surface area of 14,000 hectares (140 square kilometres), which upon completion will reach 144 square kilometres – nearly matching Italy's Lake Como at 146 square kilometres. Without mining, Lusatia would have remained a region almost without lakes, as the old moraine landscape with its permeable gravel and sand does not naturally form lakes.
The opening paragraph introduces the project's scale, its 23 post-mining lakes, and the comparison to Lake Como that frames the whole report.
The Lausitz and Central-German Mining Administration Company (LMBV) has been responsible for the rehabilitation and flooding of the former open-cast mines since the early 1990s, when it was assigned 19 mining areas in Lusatia. Lake Sedlitz, formerly the Ilse-Ost open-cast mine operating from 1938 to 1980, is the last major component and will open for swimming and boating at the end of April 2026 at 1,400 hectares, making it the largest recreational lake in the Lusatian Lakeland. On 29 June 2026, five lakes (Senftenberg, Geierswald, Partwitz, Sedlitz and Großräschen) will be connected by navigable canals to form a contiguous water area of approximately 5,000 hectares, with four of thirteen planned canals already completed and six more under construction.
The second paragraph sets out the 29 June 2026 canal connection of five named lakes, noting four of thirteen planned canals are already completed.
Beyond creating a tourist destination, the lakes serve practical functions as water reservoirs for the Spree and Schwarze Elster rivers during drought periods. The project has already stimulated regional tourism, with approximately 800,000 overnight stays recorded in 2025 at establishments with 10 or more beds, including 23,063 Czech visitors – a 12.7% increase from the previous year. Kathrin Winkler, Managing Director of the Lusatian Lakeland Tourism Association, notes that the expansion of tourism infrastructure would create new jobs in the catering, hotel and leisure industries, including for former miners and their families.
The third paragraph reports the project's tourism growth, including 800,000 overnight stays in 2025 and the catering and hotel jobs expected from expanded tourism infrastructure.
Winkler positions Lusatia as a potential model for other European coal-mining regions, stating that 'The combination of comprehensive mining restoration, sustainable landscape design and the targeted development of a tourism value-added cycle provides impetus for regions facing similar structural change.' The mining reorganisation in Lusatia has cost around €7 billion so far, with total LMBV costs (including Central German mining districts) around €13.8 billion. Creating a single long-term safe lake costs between €200 and €600 million, financed 75% by the federal government and 25% by the respective federal state, with no EU funds flowing into mining restoration. A further €4.8 billion will probably be required over the next 25 years.