Erkelenz
Germany
A walkable Rhineland town in western Germany with a café-filled centre, Erkelenz carries more than a thousand years of history alongside a striking modern chapter: since 2006, its eastern districts have been progressively cleared for the Garzweiler II open-cast brown coal mine, displacing over five thousand people from ten villages. The clearances, including the contested removal of Lützerath in January 2023, have made the town a focal point for debates about energy and displacement in Germany.
- Population44,650
- Nearest water from center1.3 km
- Nearest mountain from center18.2 km
- UNESCO within 50 km12