Druid Grove

49.786439 11.260504Coordinates: 49 ° 47 ′ 11.2 " N , 11 ° 15 ′ 37.8" E

Druid Grove

Druidenhain is the name of an approximately one hectare area of a spruce and beech forest in Franconian Switzerland .

location

It is located about 500 meters south-southwest of Wohlmannsgesees in the Forchheim district with a labyrinth of moss-covered dolomite rocks .

description

The individual boulders of the grove are two to five meters high, two to six meters long and are lined up in long rows in a north-west-south-east orientation .

The forest area got its name at the end of the 19th / beginning of the 20th century from the unusual rocky landscape, which stimulated the imagination of the visitors. According to popular belief, it is said to have been a place of worship for the Celtic priests (the druids ). From a scientific point of view, this has not yet been confirmed. A study carried out by the Geological Institute of the University of Erlangen in 1989 came to the conclusion that further studies were necessary. Some of the boulders have names.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the mayor of Wohlmannsgesees studied the druid grove and came to the conclusion that it was a prehistoric place of worship. To what extent this is the case has not yet been conclusively clarified. No human traces could be found in the druid grove. The term is considered to have its origins in the romance and imagination of people. Other assumptions are that the druid grove is a collapsed cave system or a quarry used in the Middle Ages.

The first written mention of the name Druidenhain took place in Brückner's hiking guide Franconian Switzerland and its foreland , 3rd edition from 1912. In the first two editions, the old field name Esbach was used. The author stated that the vernacular calls the wooded area Druid Grove.

In a story about the robber baron Eppelein von Gailingen (~ 1300-1381) there is talk of an oath of loyalty between the robber baron and his allies on May 1, 1339 at midnight in the Druidenhain. The people from the village of Wohlmannsgesees believed in a witches' banquet. To what extent this story corresponds to the truth has not yet been clarified, as little is known about the person Eppelein and he was transfigured into a Frankish Robin Hood in the romantic era .