Edward Leedskalnin

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Coral Castle

Edward Leedskalnin ( Latvian Edvards Liedskalniņš) (born January 12 or August 10, 1887 in the municipality of Stameriena , Livonia Governorate , today Latvia ; † December 7, 1951 in Miami , Florida ) was a Latvian sculptor who lived in Homestead , Florida in the USA built a castle . Despite only having a rudimentary school education, he became known for his obscure theories of magnetism .

Life

Leedskalnin grew up in a family of stone masons in Latvia. He was engaged in his homeland at the age of 26 but was transferred shortly before the wedding. He then emigrated and earned his living in Canada , including in a logging camp, and later in Texas . Later, after contracting tuberculosis, he moved to Florida because he hoped that the climate there would alleviate his condition.

Leedskalnin was the author of 5 writings or books, one of which was about morality, in which, among other things, he worked up his experiences with young women. His first published book was Magnetic Current in 1945 . It describes his own understanding of the forces that helped create his life's work, Coral Castle .

Coral Castle

Around 1920, Leedskalnin created the Coral Castle (originally called Rock Gate Park by him , renamed by his successors, occasionally also dubbed The Eighth Wonder of the World ), a very large-volume stone monument made of more than 1100 tons of coral rock . The stone blocks weighed up to 30 tons. Leedskalnin worked at Coral Castle for 28 years. It is dedicated to his lost love Agnes Scuffs (actually Hermīna Lūse). It is widely believed that she was referred to by the term "Sweet Sixteen" because she was said to have been 16 at the time of their engagement. The day before the wedding, Scuffs broke up with Leedskalnin.

During his lifetime, the property could be viewed under his hospitable guidance for a fee of 10 cents. The special features of the facility include a so-called telescopic tower and a freely swinging stone door weighing several tons, which rests on a bearing made from a former vehicle axle. This is said to have once made it possible to turn the door very easily with just the press of a single finger.

Coral Castle originally stood in Florida City . After a very unpleasant incident for Leedskalnin with a group of thugs who suspected treasures to be on the property, the structure was moved to its present location in Homestead in the 1930s.

His working life was rather lonely, nocturnal, mostly under the light of lamps. This gave the impression of uncanny to the people who noticed his work early on. Very little is known about the manufacturing and handling methods used for his property, but there are even more, mostly imaginative, speculations in which he himself was not entirely uninvolved. Allegedly Leedskalnin built his Coral Castle without outside help and without the use of technical aids. He claimed to know the secret of the Egyptian pyramids . There are some pictures showing him with simple tools like a pulley .

Advertising flyers have been handed down that encouraged the mysticism of the complex that is assumed today, for example by referring to the ancient cultures with pyramids that are widespread worldwide . This was complemented by his personal view of matter and electromagnetism, which differed from the mainstream of the natural sciences.

“I discovered the secrets of the pyramids . I have found out how the Egyptians and the old builders in Peru, Yucatán and Asia lifted stone blocks weighing tons and put them in their place using only primitive tools. "

Appreciation

Col. Carrol A. Lake of the United States Army Corps of Engineers wrote: “Leedskalnin proved - seen by all the world today - that he knew the design secrets of the ancients. He broke and, alone and without modern machines, set stones twice the weight of the largest blocks of the Great Pyramid. In all, he cut and placed over 1000 tons of coral rock, the greatest achievement by a human in all of human history. Here is one of the great wonders of the world, in a row with the pyramids of Egypt, with Stonehenge in England, with the fabulous temple of Jupiter in Baalbek , with the great mystery in stone of Easter Island . "

Inspired works

Billy Idol inspired a visit to the park to write his 1986 song Sweet Sixteen .

Web links

Commons : Coral Castle  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

References and footnotes

  1. ↑ Both dates are offered as alternatives - without reference to the source - on the Edward Leedskalnin and his Coral Castle in Florida page , accessed on December 16, 2015.
  2. ↑ Rock Gate Park / Coral Castle  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / unsolved.blog.com  
  3. ↑ The Mystery of Edward Leedskalnin - Coral Castle
  4. ↑ Bruce Cathie / Peter Temm: Harmonic 695 , Sphere Books, London (England) 1980, p. 108.
  5. ↑ Bruce Cathie / Peter Temm: Harmonic 695 , Sphere Books, London (England) 1980, pp. 108-109.
  6. ↑ Kathy Doore: Coral Castle. A Geomantic Wonder
personal data
SURNAME Leedskalnin, Edward
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Latvian sculptor and engineer
DATE OF BIRTH August 10, 1887
PLACE OF BIRTH Stameriena , Livonia Governorate
DATE OF DEATH 7th December 1951
Place of death Miami , Florida