Altar stone (Saxon Switzerland)
The altar stone is a worked sandstone rock in the Upper Saxon Switzerland . It is located in Ottendorfer Flur southwest of Raumberg on "Stimmersdorfer Weg" in a side valley of the Kirnitzschtal , just north of the border with the Czech Republic and, according to tradition, is reminiscent of persecuted Bohemian Protestants who are said to have used the stone as an altar for church services. The oldest mention of the stone dates back to around 1490.
As with the nearby lynx stone, an already existing sandstone block was sculptured on the altar stone. The altar stone has two worked fields with inscriptions. One of the inscriptions commemorates the services held by Protestants during the Thirty Years War :
"Persecuted Bohemian Protestants under Emperor Ferdinand II held services here around 1630"
The second inscription was not added until 1893. It names - with additions made after 1893 - the names of all foresters in the Hinterhermsdorfer forest district from 1632 to 1943. However, it fell victim to much older inscriptions from 1639 and 1640, which showed coats of arms, the Saxon swords, hunting horns and a Hussite goblet.
The altar stone was mentioned much earlier. The border between the margraviate of Meißen and the Kingdom of Bohemia from the Prebischtor to the "alterstein" was noted in a border document around 1490 . The first Saxon state survey by Matthias Oeder in 1592 also mentions the "Alterstein". The name of the stone goes back to the time of the Bohemian Protestant persecution.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Peter Rölke (Ed.): Wander- & Naturführer Sächsische Schweiz, Volume 1: Hintere Sächsische Schweiz , Dresden 1999, Berg- & Naturverlag Rölke, ISBN 3-934514-08-1 , p. 177
Web links
Coordinates: 50 ° 53 '31.2 " N , 14 ° 19' 46.9" E