Weaving a foundational narrative – place-making and change in an old-industrial town in East Germany

Figures & data

Table 1. Overview of Lauchhammer’s development (author’s own elaboration).

	Lauchhammer
Historic development (selection of events related to narrative analysis)	Before eighteenth century villages characterized by agriculture Bog iron ore found in eighteenth century → development of iron foundry by baroness of Löwendal (basis of foundational story II) Naming of the foundry in Lauchhammer – ‘Lauch’ means a wet area with peat soil which is the basis for lignite; ‘Hammer’ is the metal producing and processing plant Lignite mines since nineteenth century, the foundation of briquette factories latest since 1900 Massive industrialization – lignite exploitation and processing as well as heavy machinery (Location of 7 briquette factories, 1 large-scale coking plant, ‘Lauchhammerwerk’) The foundation of town in 1950 as a merger of 4 villages due to demand for better economic and social coordination, city rights in 1953 → centre of lignite exploitation and processing in GDR (basis for foundational story I) 1974 incorporation of Kleinleipisch as Lauchhammer-Nord 1990 lignite processing plants and mines closed soon and were demolished, heavy machinery enterprise got privatized and split into several enterprises, i.a. TAKRAF, art foundry, Galatea Decrease of the population from 24,609 in 1990–14,336 in 2019 (economic and population decline as basis for story of disintegration) 1993 Incorporation of Grünewalde and Kostebrau 2008 Opening of biotowers as an industrial monument and event location 2020 Decision of the German federal government to finish coal-based energy production in Lusatia, Central Germany and the Rhineland
Strategic development processes	Overall structural change in Lusatia because of exit from coal-based energy production 2020/21 Development of master plan because of mining legacy 2022 Renaming ‘Kunstguss-Stadt’ (Town of art foundry)

Figure 1. Coat of arms of Lauchhammer in GDR time (Source: https://www.heraldry-wiki.com/heraldrywiki/index.php?curid=56836).

Figure 2. The current coat of arms of Lauchhammer (Source: https://www.heraldry-wiki.com/heraldrywiki/index.php?curid=56835).

Figure 3. Relict park (Photo: author).

Figure 4. Biotowers (Photo: author).

Figure 5. Monument of the baroness of Löwendal (photo: author).

Figure 6. Museum of art foundry (photo: author).

Figure 7. Still existing art foundry (photo: author).

Figure 8. Core narratives and place-making in Lauchhammer (author’s own elaboration).