In groups of four they cluster around common stairwells, resembling the leaves of a clover. Inside they are full of loose slag bricks once coated with a film of bacterial sludge. They are actually called tower-type trickling filters, because the would-be castle is really a decommissioned trickling installation for the biological purification of coking plant wastewater containing harmful substances. At present the complex is being totally restored, after which new life is expected to return, with support from the Internationale Bauausstellung (IBA) Fürst-Pückler-Land. Guided tours and exhibitions on local industrial history are in the pipeline, as well as open-air cultural events and striking illumination to show the stunning architecture of this industrial monument in its best light.
The Lauchhammer bio-towers are the last-remaining remnants of what used to be a powerful established industry. In 1952 the world’s first large-scale coking plant came into service right on the doorstep, manufacturing high-temperature coke from lignite. As imports of bituminous coke from the Ruhr region began to run dry, this technological breakthrough enabled the former GDR to replace it with its own supplies. Lauchhammer laid the foundations for the expansion of the East German metallurgy industry. Briquetting plants and power stations started springing up in the industrial haze surrounding the town. Not a single brick remains. The demolition fever of the post-1989 era did more than flatten factories: it damaged the identity of Lauchhammer and its people. This gives the bio-towers even greater significance. Their shape and size is unique in Germany but, above all, they ensure that memories of the industrial past do not trickle away without trace.