Steinzeichen adventure world

"The millennium view", the viewing platform of the steinzeichen adventure world: a steel construction with glass, erected on a field stone wall (2006)

View from the observation deck

The active quarry, viewed from the "millennium view" (2006)

The adventure world steinzeichen was a nature-oriented adventure and leisure park in the Steinbergen district of Rinteln in the Weserbergland in Lower Saxony . It was on the Messingberg , in an area of a quarry that had already been renatured . The park was set up as a decentralized project as part of the EXPO 2000 world exhibition . In 2016, the company slipped into insolvency. After numerous attempts to redirect the site, it was finally sold in 2019. The adventure park with its attractions can no longer be used, only the view of the millennium can still be climbed as a viewing platform.

description

The park was 15 hectares. Its height difference over the entire length was 119 meters. A circular path with a length of 1250 m and an additional panorama hiking path with a length of 750 m were offered. From the latter, one could climb a 250-meter-high viewing platform , the so-called Millennium View , over 156 steps and from there look into the still active part of the quarry, where blasting takes place during the week , and enjoy a panoramic view of the Weser Uplands.

At the entrance to the amusement park was the Garden of Nations , which was planted for the Expo by representatives from various countries with trees and shrubs and perennials that bloom every year.

The focus of the park was on the fascination of stone and the wonder of life . There was the natural stone cabinet in the park, one of the largest stone collections in Germany, the House of Minerals , in which the visitor can admire the variety of colors and shapes of stones, including fluorescent minerals , and the building hut , which is a large sculptor's studio , in which you could watch the creation of a stone sculpture or participate in a workshop yourself. A large collection of fossils made it possible to trace the history of evolution . In the media tunnel near the entrance you could watch 3D films and later watch up to ten films on a large screen in the themed cinema . The park areas were accompanied by an international sculpture path , on which stone sculptures by various artists could be seen

The theme park offered a range of varied activities for visitors. Among other things, rallies were offered through the park, there were climbing walls of different heights , a petting zoo , a nature adventure kindergarten, an unusual children's playground and an owl observation station. In the knock course slates could be tapped for fossils in several big sandboxes visitors were able to semi-precious stones , 18,000 years old shark teeth and real Ammonites dig. There was the possibility of panning for gold , whereby not gold but pyrite could be found. Elsewhere in the park, a life-size artificial mammoth skeleton could be dug out of the sand or a dinosaur skeleton could be assembled from puzzle pieces. You could paint pictures or form sand sculptures in special sand , visit a station that housed 12 microscopes , and look at over 100 objects from the fields of mineralogy , palaeontology and school biology, greatly enlarged. There was also the possibility of designing the sand of a zen garden with a wooden rake with circular or wavy lines.

Semi-precious stones excavated from a sandpit

The octagonal House of Religions made of rocks was impressive . It represented an interreligious meeting place . Water gushed out of a fountain in the shape of water-carrying hands in the middle of the room. It was surrounded by stone sculptures that symbolize all religions .

Workshops were offered such as reading tracks or identifying wild plants, artistic design with soapstone , clay or limestone , the history of the bow , arrowhead and archery or an introduction to climbing . The workshops were chargeable and limited to participants. For food there was a bistro on the edge of the still active quarry.

After the closure

Since the bankruptcy, the site has repeatedly been the target of vandalism and arson. At the end of 2018, the sculptures each representing a world religion in the House of Religions were overturned and partially destroyed. Nevertheless, the Western Weser Uplands Tourist Association (as of January 2019) is sticking to its plans to revitalize the site. The destroyed infrastructure of the amusement park is not necessarily needed for the new concept of a mountain bike park. Organized by the West Weser Uplands Tourist Association, guided hikes to the Millennium View take place. The park can be visited again on the weekends since February 2020, and the ascent to the view of the millennium is also possible. Since June 2020 there has been a beer garden at the entrance to the park, which, according to the operator, is open every day in summer. On weekends, the offer is supplemented by "medieval" traders and a food stand.

New use

The Steinzeichen Steinbergen adventure world was sold at the end of 2019. The new owner has reopened the park to the public for a fee. Most of the attractions in the adventure park have been destroyed. However, the Millennium View viewing platform can still be accessed. The plan is to use the site as an event location for live action role playing and concerts in the future .

criticism

Parts of the population in the near and far surroundings are skeptical or negative about the use of the brass mountain as a quarry and adventure park. On December 11, 2004, an approx. 300 m long ridge of the brass mountain in the direction of the active quarry, a million tons of rock are said to have fallen down the slope. Various measurements have shown that the mountain is still in motion in parts, but that the adventure park is not in direct danger. The Millennium View structure , which is closest to the demolition point, was integrated into the measurement system and a complex early warning system and a pendulum sounder installed in order to be able to react immediately to further changes in the mountain.

photos

Rake-drawn spiral in the zen garden
Pig in the petting zoo
"Stone Age Oven" on which the Stone Age menu is fried
"Steinberger Strata" by Chris Booth from New Zealand, sculpture trail
Detail of the stone furniture sculpture "Room" by Celeste Roberge from the USA, sculpture path
Sculptures in the steinzeichen adventure world
Access to the viewing platform
View over the BAB 2 to Bad Eilsen am Harrl with the Heyden power station on the right on the horizon