Boulder (Gifhorn)

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The boulder at its new location on the banks of the Ise . Clearly recognizable in the center of the picture: brownish foreign rock ( xenolite ) in the light pink granite.
The excavation in which the boulder was discovered
The boulder with information board

The Gifhorn boulder is a boulder made of potash feldspar granite , which was discovered on August 8, 2014 by an excavator operator during earthworks on a property in Lüneburger Strasse in Gifhorn near the Gifhorn mill " Lady Devorgilla ". It was located in a three-meter-deep excavation pit that had been dug for the construction of a residential building. According to an initial measurement, the approximately 3.5 × 2.5 × 2.0 meter large and 13 tonne block was evidently transported from southern Sweden through the inland ice to the place of discovery during one of the last glacial periods of the Pleistocene and deposited there within a moraine . It is said to be the largest boulder discovered in the Gifhorn district to date . Another large and, for other reasons, relatively well-known example in the district is the Bickelstein .

After the discovery of the boulder, the responsible volunteer district archeology officer was called in. The site management originally planned to dismantle the stone for recovery. Because of its size, the boulder However, even in the glacial dominated northern Germany , a geological feature and a potential natural monument represents what it saved from destruction.

On August 25, 2014, the boulder was lifted from the excavation pit onto a low-loader with a 40 t crane truck and transported to a new location in the city center on the banks of the Ise , about 240 meters away from the site. An information board was set up on the boulder. The contractor paid the transport costs. During the recovery, a piece broke off that is to be set up directly at the site.

On the day of the open monument on September 14, 2014, the boulder was included in an archaeological tour through Gifhorn.

Photo gallery

  • Boulder with people as a size comparison. On the left side you can see the place where a piece broke off during the rescue.

  • Granite with a migmatitic structure (partial melting) and fissures with signs of weathering

  • Transitions with coarsely crystalline, pegmatischem rock ( Neosom ) alternating with darker "ply" areas ( melanosome )

  • Detail of the pegmatitic parts (neosome) of the migmatitic granite

Web links

Commons : Findling (Gifhorn)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c “Sensational find in Gifhorn”: Bagger encounters XXL boulder , Aller-Zeitung of August 8, 2014
  2. ↑ a b c Gifhorn - Mammut crane moves the XXL boulder , Aller-Zeitung from August 25, 2014
  3. ↑ Largest foundling ever found in a circle ( memento from May 28, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), undated article on the website of Antenne Niedersachsen
  4. ↑ For details, see Section 21, Paragraph 3 of the Lower Saxony Implementation Act for the Federal Nature Conservation Act (NAGBNatSchG) and in accordance with Section 22, Paragraphs 1 and 3 and Section 28 of the Federal Nature Conservation Act (BNatSchG).
  5. ↑ Findling remains big and strong , Aller-Zeitung of August 11, 2014
  6. ↑ a b Gifhorn relic from the Ice Age finds a new place in the city center 200 meters away - crane lifts giant boulder out of excavation , Aller-Zeitung from August 26, 2014
  7. ↑ Open Monument Day on Sunday, September 14th ( Memento from March 5th, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), undated article on Museen-Gifhorn.de

Coordinates: 52 ° 29 ′ 20.7 ″  N , 10 ° 32 ′ 34 ″  E