Flint cliff

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Flint cliff
Forest clearing to the cliff
Cliff in winter
Oversized advertising medium Schierker Feuerstein with a picture of the flint cliff

The flint cliff , also called flint cliffs or flint stones , is a rock formation in the Harz low mountain range and a landmark of the village of Schierke in the Harz district of Saxony-Anhalt .

Geographical location and geology

The flint cliff is located in the Harz National Park to the east above Schierke, a district of Wernigerode , on the southern flank of the Erdbeerkopf ( 847.7  m above sea  level ). According to various statements, it is at an altitude of around 690  m or in the area of ​​the 710 m contour line . A little north of the Schierke train station , it is surrounded by forest.

The massive rock formation is can otherwise as the name suggests, one of Granite existing Härtling . It has an orthogonal fracture system typical of granite and the characteristic wool sack weathering .

Surname

The name Feuersteinklippe is comparable to the name of the Schierker Wiesen in the southeast (formerly called Schierker Feuersteinwiesen ), which are also located in the Harz National Park. Often the origin of the name "fire" is derived from cultic fires or signal fires that may have been kindled there, but this is very likely just a legend. Walther Grosse writes in his "History of the city and county of Wernigerode in their forest, field and street names" (Wernigerode 1929) on the origin of the name that the granite there is very hard and gives sparks with the steel. Nevertheless, the origin of the name remains unclear so far.

Others

A plaque attached to the flint cliff commemorates the visit of Goethe and the painter Georg Melchior Kraus , who stayed here on September 4, 1784 for geological studies. The herbal liqueur Schierker Feuerstein , founded in Schierke, is named after the cliff, and it is shown on the bottle label.

See also

literature

  • Sabine Gorsemann, Christian Kaiser: Harz. DuMont Reiseverlag, Ostfildern 2010, ISBN 978-3-7701-7298-6 , p. 151.

Web links

Commons : Flint Cliff  - Collection of images, videos, and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Flint cliffs information board (near rock formation) and a. for the altitude “690 m”, on geo.de.
  2. ↑ a b Information board Here by the flintstones ... (on the rock formation) for Goethe and Kraus' visit to the cliffs, on harzlife.de
  3. ↑ Map services of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation ( information )

Coordinates: 51 ° 46 '  N , 10 ° 41'  E