It's clay! - German Rock of the Year 2025

The Board of Trustees of the Bundesverband Deutscher Geowissenschafler e.V. (Professional Association of German Geoscientists) has decided to name clay "Rock of the Year 2025". From the DTTG's point of view, this is of course a very good choice. The event took place on 27 June 2025 on the premises of the "Muskauer Faltenbogen" Geopark in the old Klein Kölzig brickworks in Neiße-Malxetal in Lower Lusatia. For the first time, Polish colleagues were also involved in the celebration, as both the geopark and the former local clay industry are located on both sides of the Neisse. Representatives from politics, e.g. district administrators, mayors and representatives of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, the geological services of Saxony, Brandenburg and Lower Silesia as well as the host EVTZ mbH were present. Accordingly, there were numerous words of welcome, which, like the presentations, were simultaneously translated into German and Polish. The DTTG was represented by former President Dr Reinhard Kleeberg from the TU Bergakademie Freiberg. All speakers emphasised the importance of clay as a raw material and as the basis of the regional economy, which was long characterised by the coal, glass and ceramics industries.

The „Baptism“ of the Rock of the Year 2025: Clay from Lower Lusatia (Photo: Sauer)

In the last presentation “Clay - a fascinating rock and geomaterial” Reinhard Kleeberg talked about further technical applications of clays and clay minerals in lesser-known but growing fields such as environmental technology and materials development. The rock baptism itself was then carried out on a “Hunt” with Miocene clay, which the LEAG is extracting again today as an accompanying raw material for lignite mining. However, no direct swelling of the clay with Prosecco was observed, as the clay of the Rauno layers mainly contains kaolinite and quartz.

The former DTTG President Dr. Reinhard Kleeberg during his speech. (Photo: Günther-Plönes)