The Miners and Energy Workers of the Region

The Miners and Energy Workers of the Region

Die Berg- und Energiearbeiter der Region (The Miners and Energy Workers of the Region) at the Haus der Berg- und Energiearbeiter (House of the Miners and Energy Workers), now known as Lausitzhalle, made 1983-1984 by Fritz Eisel in Hoyerswerda.

This mosaic mural references the significance of lignite (brown coal) mining and processing in the Lausitz region, which led to formerly rural Hoyerswerda's growth in the 1950s. There, the GDR experimented with designing and constructing a town using standardized, prefabricated architecture and building materials. In the early 1960s, a writer characterized the town as sterile, bleak, and boring, and the experiment is historically considered a failure. Eisel's colorful mosaic mural is likely an attempt to rehabilitate Hoyerswerda's reputation through public art. Today, it is designated as a cultural monument along with the building.

Fritz Eisel, artist

Jim Cooper, photographer

Flickr

1984

Photograph: July 2010

Copyright Jim Cooper

Mosaic mural