WORKSHOP SERIES BY YI-TING WANG
WHEN
WHERE
Fischerhütte, Saarstraße 17, 66798 Wallerfangen
LANGUAGE
GERMAN & ENGLISH
PROGRAMME
River Walk is a series of on-site explorations along the Saar in June and July 2026, each led by a regional expert. Historian Birgit Metzger walks visitors through living polluted archives at the Rossel–Saar confluence near Völklinger Hütte. Environmental organisation Cleanup Saarland uses citizen-science methods to interpret debris carried downstream as material records of consumption. Historian Susanne Nimmesgern brings to light the forgotten histories of boatwomen, female brewers, and female ironworks directors along the riverbank. Geographer Jochen Kubiniok reads the river’s hundred-million-year geological transformation through canals, meanders, and oxbow lakes. Hydrologist Isabelle Charpentier explores alternative scenarios of flooding, military legacy, renaturation, and aquatic well-being. Together, River Walk offers a situated way of navigating the postindustrial riverscape, and opens a space to reimagine the Saar’s future.
SATURDAY, 11. JULY 2026, 9:00 AM — 12:00 AM:
River Walk: 100 Millionen Jahre Saar | The Saar’s 100-Million-Year History
Workshop with Dr. Jochen Kubiniok (physical geographer, University of Saarland)
As part of the visit to the Wallerfangen oxbow and its wider surroundings, the excursion examines, on the one hand, the human-induced changes to the course of the Saar over the past 50 years and, on the other, the influence of human-induced changes within the river’s catchment area.
Starting from the site at Wallerfangen, we will travel on foot and by car to locations between Wallerfangen, Ihn, and Völklingen, in order to observe and discuss landscape-ecological aspects, particularly the geomorphology of the watercourse and agro-ecological features.
The exact itinerary will depend on the weather conditions on the day. The event runs from 9:00 to approximately 12:00.
- Meeting Point: Fischerhütte, Saarstraße 17, 66798 Wallerfangen (parking on site)
- Practical information: Coming by car is recommended. A transfer from Saarbrücken can be arranged on request. When registering, please let us know whether you will come by car or need a transfer.
IN COOPERATION WITH :
FURTHER WORKSHOPS IN THE RIVER WALK SERIES:
SATURDAY, 13 JUNE 2026, 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Industrie-Natur | The Nature of De-Industrialisation
Dr. Birgit Metzger
SATURDAY, 27 JUNE 2026, 10:00 AM — 12:00 PM
Was die Saar mit sich trägt | The Saar’s Carried Objects
Cleanup Saarland e.V.
SUNDAY, 28 JUNE 2026, 10:00 AM — 12:00 PM
Frauen und die Saar | Women and the Saar
Dr. Susanne Nimmesgern
SATURDAY, 4 JULY 2026, 1:00 PM — 3:00 PM
Simulation und Spiel an der Saar | Simulation and Gaming for the Saar
Dr. Isabelle Charpentier
Participation in the workshops is free. You can register for the workshops here.
Conceived and organised by Yi-Ting Wang, River Walk is part of her fellowship at CURE. Her current research project REPAIR (Reparative Environmental Practices: Art and rreparable Riverscapes) investigates how artistic and situated practices engage with post-industrial riverscapes, fostering environmental knowledge from the river, rather than merely about it.
This event is part of the Rivers Beyond Borders project.
Participation in the workshops is free. You can register for the workshops here.