Michael Schumacher’s village will be destroyed and lost

The towns where great historical personalities were born or grew up, be they thinkers, painters, sculptors or film and sports stars, are usually places of worship for thousands of fans, where they go to visit and learn more about the origin of a world idol However, the city of Mannheim, a small town belonging to the municipality of Kerpen (near Cologne), where the 7-time F1 world champion grew up on its streets Michael Schumacheris on its way to ceasing to exist in the coming months.

It has been several years since the German authorities decided. The reason: the expansion of a lignite mine, a type of coal. In fact, as published by the Rheinische Post in 2019, the entire town will be demolished and left completely empty by 2022. A year has passed since that date, and according to international newspapers, the town, where 1,700 people lived just a few years ago, is now “a ghost town” (as seen in the video we added below).

Today, in its streets, there are still some houses standing with closed shutters, although at first glance you can see the neglect typical of a place where there is almost no life left. Only 12 inhabitants remaina ghost town to be demolished.

The rest of the former inhabitants have left, receiving significant offers from the German electricity company RWE. The remaining 12 people have to leave as soon as possible.

Their religious temple, a listed church like St. Albanus and Leonhardus, will be spared such demolition, but it will no longer serve as a house of worship for anyone. There was a last mass there in 2019, where 400 people participated. 150 protesters and representatives of the student climate movement Fridays for Future gathered in front of the church to oppose the expansion of the coal mine. But they didn’t do it.

In fact, local sources reported that the government-appointed commission agreed that coal-fired energy production in Germany should end no later than 2038this is contrary to the actions taken in the country, where some villages in coal mining areas are still slated for demolition to make way for the expansion of these coal mines.

Demolished in the following months, but something will be saved

Now, the bulldozers have destroyed everything outside the village. Everything is ready for 2024 to enter Manheim for its final demolition. Due to its proximity to the Hambach forest, an area protected for its ecological value, the house owned by the Schumacher family, the ‘Erftlandring’ go-kart track and the aforementioned church will be saved from demolition, but they will do so in the middle of nowhere.

Michael and Corinna’s house and the place where they got married

On the other hand, the house where Michael Schumacher and his wife live cannot be savedCorinna, before they moved to Munich. Not even the municipal seat where they were both married in 1995 with a civil marriage.

That civil marriage made headlines around the world. Michael Schumacher is married Corinna Betsch in her hometown of Kerpen-Manheim in August 1995 on a day full of controversy because of what happened the day before. One day before the wedding, in the morning, Michael released an official statement announcing the postponement of his wedding because the news, the place and the time had leaked. I want it to be something well-known and that will stop it. For this reason, he announced that the wedding was postponed, but it was nothing more than an attempt to distract himself, since he would eventually marry there as previously planned.

Why doesn’t he have another future?

that place is right This could be another point of visit in a good ‘tour’ through the youth and life of Michael Schumacher, in a place worthy of a museum. Because it’s not like that? That’s what every Formula 1 fan wonders about. None of that is going to happen. A town that could receive thousands of visitors a year to learn the history of the ‘Kaiser’, has become a ghost town. In a few months it will cease to exist.