Stock Photo - 25 March 2020, Brandenburg, Cottbus: Water flows over the intake structure into the former opencast lignite mine Cottbus-Nord and future Cottbus Baltic Sea. The flooding of the former open-cast mine had begun in mid-April 2019. The flooding of the huge pit is to create the so-called Baltic Sea. For this purpose, water will flow from the Spree River via the Hammergraben into the open-cast mine hole - a total of around 45 million cubic metres a year. The huge artificial lake will have a water surface of almost 19 square kilometres. By 2025, the water is expected to have reached the necessary minimum height of 2.70 meters in the middle of the lake. Photo: Patrick Pleul/dpa-Zentralbild/ZB. - Cottbus/Brandenburg/Germany