Rock Sea (Hemer)

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Felsenmeer Hemer in 2004
Viewing platform in the Great Rock Sea
Bridge and footbridge in the Little Rock Sea
Natural section between the small sea of ​​rocks and paradise

The sea ​​of ​​rocks in Hemer in the Sauerland is a wooded geotope with a strongly rugged subsoil and numerous visible rock formations, which geologically originates from the Tertiary . The area of ​​the rocky sea covers approx. 35 ha , is approx. 600 meters long, 200 meters wide and is 45 meters above the valley floor. It is divided into three sub-areas, the Great Rock Sea in the northwest, the Small Rock Sea in the south and Paradise in the southeast.

The Felsenmeer was designated a nature reserve by ordinance in 1962 by the Arnsberg district government and registered as a soil monument by the city of Hemer in 2017 .

geology

The sea of ​​rocks consists of reef limestone from the middle Devonian , which was formed in a tropical flat sea and is around 385 million years old. Today these Devonian reef limestones stretch on the southern edge of the Ruhr area from Wuppertal via Hagen and Iserlohn to the Hönnetal . In the Tertiary , 20 to 30 million years ago, a bizarre conical karst landscape with craggy rocks separated by deep chutes was created under warm and humid climatic conditions due to the partial dissolution of the (water-soluble) limestone on the earth's surface .

There is evidence that iron ore was mined in the caves as early as the 8th or 9th century AD. This took place in the northwest and southeast of the area. The currently oldest mining of iron stone ( iron content of up to 80 percent) in Westphalia was found in the Felsenmeer . The ores found here were meta somatic red iron stone, brown iron ore, zinc spar (calamine) and the rare green-lead ore.

In the northern area there are transverse clefts, shafts and also several caves. At the end of 1950, a rock wall collapsed in the northwestern area of ​​the sea of ​​rocks. Three main fracture directions have been identified in the area, running from north-northwest to south-southeast, west-northwest to east-southeast, and north-northeast to south-southwest.

The Felsenmeer Museum provides an insight into the history of the Felsenmeer .

legend

The legend tells that in the distant past, dwarfs settled in today's area around the Sundwiger Forest . Under the rocks they looked for gold, silver, precious stones and other precious metals. The famous dwarf king Alberich was master of all the treasures. Now the neighboring giants heard of all the wealth and set out to plunder the dwarf rock castle. The dwarves could hide from the giants in the farthest underground passages, while they only got as far as the large rock hall. Suddenly Alberich cast a spell, and the ceiling of the rock hall fell on the giants. Since this event, the sea of ​​rocks has been at this point. A giant's tombstone can still be seen today: a slab of rock with a portrait of the giant was erected in paradise .

sightseeing

The nearby Heinrichshöhle is a stalactite cave that is open to visitors.

The sea of ​​rocks itself is freely accessible around the clock. Leaving the marked paths is forbidden and very dangerous, as crevices in the rock are often hidden under leaves and branches. This has already resulted in several deaths.

Awards

The Geological Service NRW describes the Hemeraner Felsenmeer as a unique geotope in Germany and in 2005 awarded it the title of Important Geological Monument in Germany .

On May 12, 2006, the Felsenmeer was named a “ National Geotope ” in the Hanover state parliament. On this occasion, the objects were given the title “National Geotope” and the “planeterde” logo by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research . In addition, the geotopes have been immortalized in an accompanying book. This award was the result of a competition organized by the Hanover Academy of Geosciences (AGH). 77 significant geotopes in Germany were awarded the title “National Geotope”, whereby the sea of ​​rocks together with the Bruchhauser stones were the only award winners in the Sauerland.

See also

literature

  • Wolfgang Hänisch: The fascination of the sea of ​​rocks. Papenbusch Media, Menden (Sauerland) 2010, ISBN 978-3938052129 .
  • The geological development of the karst landscape around Hemer by Egon Perkuhn. In: Hemer, Contributions to Heimatkunde, Second Edition 1980, pp. 11–23.
  • The sea of ​​rocks - overview of the recorded caves. Weber, HW, Antiberg, Heft 1, communication on karst and cave research in Westphalia, 1975.
  • The sea of ​​rocks near Hemer. Schmidt, H./Weber, H., Antiberg, booklet 1, communication on karst and cave research in Westphalia, 1975.
  • The sea of ​​rocks near Hemer-Sundwig in the Sauerland. Kühne, A., Bergbau, issue 5, May 65, Ring Deutscher Bergbauingenieure.
  • Volker Wrede: Bizarre landscape full of puzzles. In: Ernst-Rüdiger Look, Ludger Feldmann (Ed.): Fascination Geology. The important geotopes of Germany, E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-510-65219-3 , pp. 50–51
  • Till Kasielke: Excursion: Hemer, Felsenmeer and Heinrichshöhle. In: Jahrb. Bochumer Bot. Ver. 7, 2016, pp. 84–92, https://www.botanik-bochum.de/jahrbuch/Exkursion_151101_HemerFelsenmeer.pdf

Web links

Commons : Felsenmeer Hemer  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Official announcement of the city of Hemer (PDF; 173 kB) Retrieved on June 24, 2018.
  2. ↑ Volker Wrede: Rock Sea Hemer. http://geopark.metropoleruhr.de/geopark-ruhrgebiet/geopark-entdecke/geotope/hemer-felsenmeer.html
  3. ↑ Volker Wrede: Bizarre landscape full of puzzles . In: Ernst-Rüdiger Look, Ludger Feldmann (Ed.): Fascination Geology. The important geotopes of Germany , E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-510-65219-3 , pp. 50–51

Coordinates: 51 ° 22 ′ 50 ″  N , 7 ° 47 ′ 0 ″  E