
A 19th century church in Germany was demolished this week to make way for coal mining.

St Lambertus Cathedral – a church known by locals as Immerather Dom – in Immerath, a tiny farming village northwest of Cologne, was razed to the ground on Tuesday.

The double-spired church, thought to have been built between 1880 and 1890, was torn down in the latest step in energy company RWE's demolition of the entire village in a bid to expand its access to the region's lignite supply.

St Lambertus Church (pictured) was torn down by RWE Power to make way for coal mines despite protests from Greenpeace

The double-spired church, known to locals as Immerather Don, is thought to have been built between 1880 and 1890

The church held its last Mass Service in October 2013, before being deconsecrated, according to Die Zeit.

But Greenpeace activists had been protesting against its demolition, brandishing banners that said #ENDCOAL.

Immerath was once home to a population of 1,200 but since RWE took over the land, its population has diminished.

The energy company has built a new village seven miles away – where Immerath's hospital has been relocated and its houses torn down and moved.

Even the village cemetery's graves were dug up and relocated to the new village.

Spectators look on as the St Lambertus church in Erkelenz-Immerath, western Germany, is demolished on Tuesday

A village chapel with a modern design has also been constructed, with a small replica of the demolished cathedral placed in the new village's plaza.

Lignite, a crumbly variety also known as brown coal, is mined is huge open pits and is therefore, easier and cheaper to access than other varieties.

However, it is one of the worst fossil fuels to burn and the coal under Immerath could produce billions of tons of carbon emissions over the coming decades, the Huffington Post reports.

It comes after Chancellor Angela Merkel's government faced criticism over their reported willingness to push back Germany's target for reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 2020.

The demolition was the latest step in energy company RWE's demolition of the entire village in a bid to expand its access to the region's lignite supply

The church held its last Mass Service in October 2013, before being deconsecrated. A modern chapel has been built in the new village seven miles away

Immerath was once home to a population of 1,200 but since RWE took over the land, its population has diminished

Merkel, who's been dubbed the 'Climate Chancellor' over her ambitious aims for renewable energy, had pledged before September's election to stick to the 2020 target.

However, this week, Merkel's Union bloc and the center-left Social Democrats are holding preliminary talks on extending their coalition of the past four years.

Conservative negotiator Armin Laschet said on Monday they had wrapped up talks on energy policy, but gave no details.

But German news agency dpa reported that the agreement involves officially giving up the country's target of a 40 percent cut in carbon dioxide emissions by 2020 compared with 1990, regarded by many as unachievable, but taking measures to close the gap as far as possible.

The coal mined from under Immerath could produce billions of tons of carbon dioxide emissions over the coming decades

Residents from the village were relocated by German energy supplier RWE Power in an extension of their Tagebau Garzweiler open pit lignite mine

A picture taken with a drone shows St Lambertus church after its demolition to make way for lignite mines on Tuesday

Germany still gets about 40 percent of its electricity from coal-fired plants.

The country plans to abandon nuclear energy by 2022, but Merkel has resisted calls to set a deadline for ending the use of coal, including lignite.

Laschet, the governor of North Rhine-Westphalia state - a region known for lignite mining - stressed that Germany wants to comply with the 2020 targets set under the international Paris climate agreement.

But he argued it can't do so by 'suddenly saying we are getting out of an energy source, lignite, without knowing what consequences that has for jobs, but also for energy prices.'