Bagger 1473, Industrial monument in Schipkau, Germany
Bagger 1473 is a bucket-wheel excavator displayed as a monument in Schipkau, showing the massive scale of mining machinery used in opencast operations. The machine features ten buckets and represents the type of equipment that moved earth on an industrial scale in German coal mines.
Bagger 1473 was built in 1964 and first operated at the Meuro open-pit coal mine before being used briefly elsewhere in the 1980s. The machine stopped working in 1999 and was later preserved as a heritage monument to document the region's industrial past.
The name and blue paint of this excavator reflect the identity of the mining region and its industrial past. Visitors notice how the machine stands as a symbol of work and livelihood that shaped the area for generations.
Visitors should allow time to walk around the excavator and view it from different angles to appreciate its full size. The best views come from stepping back to see the entire profile and climbing to higher vantage points if possible.
The excavator was officially added to Brandenburg's heritage protection list in 2019, preventing its planned demolition and recognizing it as a cultural asset worth preserving. This action saved one of the few surviving examples of this particular mining machine type from East German mines.
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