Milstejn

Milštejn rock gate

Milštejn (German millstone ) is a free-standing, approx. 20 meter high rock made of quartzite near Naděje in the Lusatian Mountains in the Czech Republic . At the foot of the rock are the small remains of the former Milštejn castle ( millstone ). Only a few parts of the surrounding walls have been preserved. The natural rock gate that undercuts the rock in the central part is remarkable. The rock is also known as a climbing peak .

history

Milštejn Castle was probably founded at the turn of the 13th to 14th century to protect the trade route across the Lusatian Mountains. In 1343 the Milštejn Castle was first mentioned in a document and was designated as a guard station between Oybin and Česká Lípa . At that time it was probably owned by Messrs Berka von Dubá from the Kurziwody millstone line, probably in 1362. At the end of the 14th century the town of Zwickau and the villages of Lichtenwald, Krombach , Groß Mergthal , Glasert , Kleingrün , Kunnersdorf and Lindau belonged to the castle . In the four decades before the Hussite Wars, the western part of the Lämberg estate was temporarily owned by the lords on the Mühlstein through marriage . Mühlstein Castle was abandoned at the end of the 16th century and gradually fell into disrepair.

Even before the castle was founded, the quartzite was probably mined for millstone extraction. After the castle was abandoned, the excavation of the rock continued, so that the remains of the castle complex also disappeared piece by piece. In 1532, the Berka von Dubá rulers united the Mühlstein rule with the Reichstadt rule . Larger parts of the castle were demolished, especially under Julius Franz von Sachsen-Lauenburg , to ensure the security of the quarry. In 1726 one of the great towers collapsed and in 1793 the remains of the keep was blown up. From 1873 the quarrying was further intensified, meanwhile the millstones have been exported throughout Europe. In 1910, the minable stone reserves were exhausted and the quarry was closed.

Mountain sport development

Since ancient times the summit of the rock was surely climbed to z. B. to serve as an observation post of the castle complex. Mountain sports development began in the 1920s when some routes for high mountain training were climbed with artificial aids such as hooks and ladders. Today there are routes of difficulty levels I to VII (JPK - Jednotná pískovcová klasifikace ).

Legend of the maiden jump

An old legend about the millstone reports:

One evening a girl pursued by robbers knocked on the gate of the Mühlstein Fortress near Zwickau and was admitted by the servants of the castle. The youth and beauty of the virgin attracted the rough fellows and, drunk from so much wine, they wanted to abuse the harried, pleading girl. But this tore itself away from them and rushed down from the window into the depths. So the poor tortured girl found death, but the hideous servants were cursed for the rest of their lives.

Another legend tells of a devil's kitchen in the ruins of the castle, which the witches of the forest used to brew magic potions.

literature

• Michael Bellmann, Manfred Thiele: Climbing Guide Northern Bohemia. Michael Bellmann, Dresden 1992, ISBN 3-937537-00-7 .

Web links

Commons : Milštejn  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Description of Milštejn

Coordinates: 50 ° 48 ′ 41.9 ″  N , 14 ° 37 ′ 58.4 ″  E