In the Saxon Heuersdorf, a church is being moved 12 kilometers due to coal

Dresden - In the Saxon municipality of Heuersdorf, a specialized company has today begun the long-distance relocation of a rare Romanesque church. After long disputes, the municipality has decided to concede to surface mining of lignite, and the church building, weighing 800 tons, will be moved to the municipality of Borna, located 12 kilometers away. This was reported today by German online media.
    The church, reinforced by a steel structure, will be relocated on a special chassis. Because the bridges over the rivers Pleisse and Wyhra, which lie along the route, are not considered by experts to have sufficient load capacity, crossings have been prepared next to them for the transport of the extraordinary cargo, beneath which the streams are routed through pipes, reported Lausitzer Rundschau. Additionally, the transport will need to overcome two railway crossings and several sections of narrow roads. A total of 55,000 cubic meters of soil have been relocated for the transport, and after the move, the terrain will be restored to its original condition.
    The church in the Romanesque style, which has undergone very few modifications throughout its history, dates back to around 1258, according to historians. The building is 14.5 meters long, 8.8 meters wide, and 19 meters high.
    "Before the transport, we examined practically every stone in the church's masonry, and we reinforced the interior with a structure," said Regina Meissinger, the commissioner for the relocation.
    The move is expected to take about a week, barring any issues; the transport company has reserved an additional week to address unexpected problems. The operation is expected to cost at least three million euros (about 82 million CZK), which will be covered by the coal company MIBRAG, which will be able to mine coal beneath the municipality.
    The church is set to be located on the outskirts of the municipality of Borna, and services are expected to resume there on Easter 2008.
    The residents of Heuersdorf defended their municipality for 17 years. They filed a lawsuit against the law to dissolve the municipality due to coal mining and won the dispute. However, they ultimately succumbed to the pressure from the American mining company MIBRAG. The government subsequently revoked their self-governance and annexed the municipality to a neighboring city that permitted its demolition. The residents of Heuersdorf then lost a second lawsuit, arguing that mining is necessary to strengthen the regional economy.
    In their many years of struggle, the residents of Heuersdorf established close ties with Czech municipalities threatened by potential expansions of surface coal mining, such as Horní Jiřetín and Černice in the Most region.