Germany’s Yellowstone: The Colorful Lakes of Roßbach

It is a hidden dreamscape, reminiscent of the U.S. national park, Yellowstone. Yet this is Germany—a secluded corner situated right in the midst of an industrial landscape. It presents a fascinating interplay of colors—emerald green, rust-red, and indigo-blue lakes—nestled within dazzling white shores.

Where industry once reigned supreme, a bizarre natural tableau now casts its spell, evoking memories of the famous colorful hot springs of the world-renowned Yellowstone. However, this bizarre mining landscape on the outskirts of the tiny village of Roßbach is entirely man-made.

The largest extraction

For decades, the kaolin mine near Roßbach in the Saalekreis district stood as the largest extraction site for white clay in all of Central Europe. After 200 years, the company’s history came to an abrupt end—leaving behind a legacy of industrial waste alongside dreamlike landscapes straight out of a travel brochure.

The water to the left is emerald green and so crystal-clear that the lakebed is visible. To the right, by contrast, a rust-red lake glows in the sunlight; appearing as if filled with blood, this body of water lies nestled between dazzling white shores, just a few meters away from a third splash of color.

Here, the water’s surface is indigo-blue, stretching several hundred meters to the north, where a steep cliff face rises up—reminiscent of the white chalk cliffs of Rügen.

No so famous

It is a landscape akin to that of the famous Yellowstone National Park in the U.S. state of Wyoming, where volcanic processes have, over thousands of years, painted the rocks, dyed the lakes in vibrant hues, and etched fairytale-like formations into the earth’s surface.

Here near Roßbach in the Saalekreis district—less than five kilometers from Braunsbedra and the shores of Lake Geiseltal—it took nowhere near that long.

The Salzmünde Kaolin and Clay Works were founded in 1818; mining of this "white gold" on the 270-hectare site—which until then had served as a coal pit for the Geiseltal Lignite Combine—began in 1979.

Hidden beneath the coal lay the true treasure: so-called "porcelain earth"—a fine, iron-free rock whose primary constituent is kaolinite, a weathering product of feldspar.

The chinese earth

The name kaolin derives from the southern Chinese town of "Gaoling" ("High Hill"), where "white earth" has been extracted for porcelain production since as early as the 11th century.

This radiantly white, fine-grained, and soft material is ten times more expensive than coal—and far rarer. Kaolin is essential for the manufacture of porcelain and tiles, as an additive in paints, in the production of paper and tires, in the cosmetics industry, and in food production.

White firing clay

The bizarre mining landscape on the outskirts of Roßbach is no ordinary deposit; rather, it is the largest site of so-called "white-firing clays" in all of Central Europe.

One must travel far to the east—to Ukraine—to find this rare raw material again in quantities and of a quality comparable to those found here, where it lies deposited across an area of ​​some 150 hectares in a layer exceeding 20 meters in thickness.

This layer is nearly impermeable to water, a characteristic that gives rise to the colorful "Yellowstone lakes" scattered across the site, situated directly adjacent to the popular Hasse swimming lake.

Depending on which minerals are leached out by rainwater, the puddles, pits, and larger ponds take on vibrant hues—much like their famous volcanic cousins, the Grand Prismatic Spring and Morning Glory Pool, in Yellowstone.

A natural wonderland

Yet, unlike America’s oldest national park, this German natural wonderland—which, officially, remains designated as an active mining site to this day—remains utterly unknown and deserted.

Motocross riders use it as an illicit racetrack, while teenagers gather here to barbecue during the summer months. Remnants of campfires and empty beer bottles bear witness to late-night parties.

Officially, the former kaolin mine—from which 200,000 tons of clay were once extracted annually—remains a restricted mining zone to this day. Entry is prohibited. Yet, no mining has taken place here for several years now.

In 2018—as revealed by calendars still hanging in the former office spaces—production was still running at full capacity. Two dozen employees were employed in Roßbach.

A gaping wound

Then, in 2019—exactly 200 years after the founding of the Kaolin- und Tonwerke GmbH, headquartered northwest of Halle—the end apparently came quite suddenly, overnight and completely without warning. Nothing was cleared away or hauled off in anything resembling an orderly fashion. Everything remained exactly where it had landed on that final day of the company’s 200-year history.

What remains is a gaping wound in the landscape—a unique lunar terrain from which stark-white piles of raw material, tattered tent structures, rusty clay shredders, and mountains of "Big Bags" filled with kaolin grit of various grades jut out. Slowly, spruces and birches are beginning to sprout from these artificial mounds. In the colorful waters of the lakes and ponds, visible life is scarce due to the high lime content.

Yet, it is there: According to a study by the Landscape Development Research Network, the biodiversity within this abandoned mine is actually higher than that found in many properly renatured sites....