Auerbach marble
The Auerbach marble , a metamorphic rock , occurs in a strip about two kilometers long in the Odenwald , south of Hochstädten , near Auerbach . Auerbach has been a district of Bensheim since 1939 . This stone is historically significant because it is one of the few marble deposits in Germany that played a role as stone. It is believed that this marble was quarried in Roman times ; however, this deposit has not been mined since 1975. Auerbach marble probably originated in the Devonian and was changed contact metamorphic in the carbon .
Rock description and mineral inventory
The Auerbach marble is light gray to white, sometimes slightly yellowish, small-grained and marked by dark gray streaks. The slightly yellowish areas were caused by the inclusion of pyrite . Its appearance is similar to the white and finer-grain types of Carrara marble with streaks and Naxos marble , which is, however, more coarse-grained.
The components of this marble are: 98 percent calcite , 1 percent quartz and 1 percent opaque minerals . Up to a maximum of 15 percent quartz is embedded in the dark gray streaks.
Occurrence
The Auerbach marble occurs in a strip about two kilometers long. The rock deposit is strongly fissured. The fissured layers are backfilled with calcite. The deposit reaches a maximum width of 40 to 45 m and in parts the bank is only 2 m thick. Lenses from other metamorphic rocks are partially embedded in the marble rock. Seven tunnels were dug into this marble deposit to a depth of 140 m. Auerbach marble was mined in the past both above ground and underground until 1975.
In addition, marble was also extracted in other places in the Odenwald, at Kirchberg near Bensheim, near Bierbach and Höllerbach.
use
The marble stone from the Odenwald was already used in Roman times, as evidenced by a grave find in a Roman sculpture workshop in Mainz . A lime kiln for the production of building limes is said to have existed near Auerbach as early as 1570. Auerbacher Marble was founded in the 1865 Auerbacher Marmorwerk processed. From around 1900 Auerbach marble was no longer quarried as stone, but rather as quicklime and for use as fine plaster . Marmorit , a colored dry mortar, has been produced from this marble since 1928, and mineral high-quality plaster since 1934. During the Second World War , a satellite camp of the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp in Alsace was operated from August 1944 to March 1945 for the production of armaments. In 1975 the mining of Auerbach marble was stopped.
Auerbach marble is weather-resistant, the polish diminishes under today's environmental conditions as with all marbles that are installed outdoors. It was used as a stone for floor slabs, stairs, window sills, wall panels, tombs, building blocks and in sculpture.
An epitaph of the pastor Schott in the Auerbach mountain church is made of Auerbach marble and numerous gravestones are known in the churchyard and the cemeteries of the surrounding villages of Auerbach. There are five columns on the fountain of Heidelberg Castle and other ornaments in Mainz Cathedral made of this rare German marble.
literature
- Wolf-Dieter Grimm: picture atlas of important memorial stones of the Federal Republic of Germany , ed. from the Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation, Lipp-Verlag, Munich 1990, ISBN 3-87490-535-7
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Grimm: Monument rocks. Rock no. 200, see literature
- ↑ Hessian State Office for Environment and Geology: Hesse raw material security concept. Technical report natural stones and natural stones. P. 124 , accessed May 8, 2010
- ↑ a b Grimm: Denkmalgesteine, p. 186, see literature
- ↑ Oliver Stoll: Roman Army and Society. Collected contributions 1991-1999, p. 194, footnote 42, Steiner, Stuttgart 2001 (Mavors, vol. 13), ISBN 3-515-07817-7 online on Google Books , accessed on May 8, 2010
- ↑ Hessian State Office for Environment and Geology: Hesse raw material security concept. Pp. 128/129 , accessed on May 8, 2010