7,000 erratic boulders, 49 acres (20 hectares), a miniature replica of the landscape between Rügen and the North Cape, a host of plants flowering from March to November: that is the Findlingspark Nochten in Lusatia. It offers steep slopes, prominent hilltops and well-defined sunken lanes, streams, ponds with bridges and various playgrounds, as well as a tourist information centre and exhibition, conference and catering facilities. Visitors should allow at least half a day for exploring the Findlingspark (erratic boulder park).

The complex was opened in 2003 on a former dumping site and is located immediately north of the heathland village of Nochten. The German-Sorbian village lies in the south of the Muskau Heath, one of the largest woodland and inland dune areas in Germany. The church and the square behind it are well worth a visit. This is also the site of the memorial to the village’s demolished northern and western parts, which had to make way for the Nochten opencast mine in the late 1980s.

The silhouette of the Boxberg power plant is almost omnipresent and the Findlingspark offers a particularly impressive view. The power plant has been converting coal into electricity and feeding it into the grid since 1968. Every day up to 50,000 metric tons of lignite can be converted into electricity. With an output of 2,575 megawatt, Boxberg is the second largest power plant in Lusatia after Jänschwalde (3,000 MW).

Immediately south of Boxberg lies the lake Bärwalder See, a flooded pit left by the opencast mine of the same name. Three beaches and other attractions, such as the landscape structure ‘OHR’ (EAR) with integrated amphitheatre, attract tourists.

More information is available at www.findlingspark-nochten.de. More information about Bärwalder See and potential activities is available at www.baerwalder-see.eu.