Freistein near Attiswil

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Freestone

The man- high free stone near Attiswil (also Freienstein) is a menhir . It stands south of the church in Attiswil near Solothurn in the canton of Bern in Switzerland .

history

The stone is a rare specimen that is unparalleled in Switzerland in terms of early and legal history. During excavations in 1855 it was found that the stone has a total length of 3.6 m.

Excavations in 1963 uncovered Stone Age flint fragments and Roman pottery. The finds made are interpreted as offerings. The preservation of the menhirs is probably due to the fact that the prehistoric cult stone in the Middle Ages to a sanctuary ( Rechtenstein and refuge) had become. In times when everyone worked largely as a judge in disputes, sanctuaries formed asylum sites where the perpetrator was inviolable for a certain period of time. They formed a safeguard against blood revenge and enabled arbitration . An old place of worship would have become a sanctuary, which is consistent with the fact that such asylums were in many places near churches and monasteries, which in turn were not infrequently built on pagan places of worship. Unfortunately there is no documentary evidence for this sanctuary.

A legend reports that a bailiff from Schloss Bipp , who stabbed a fugitive near Freistein, died within a year after a serious illness. Since then, he has come back to the place where he did it on some spring nights. The Freistein near Attiswil is under state protection today. The term freestone is also known from other areas: z. B. Podhradí nad Dyjí (German Freestone) in Moravia.

Nearby is the Oberbipp dolmen .

Web links

Coordinates: 47 ° 14 '40.3 "  N , 7 ° 36' 54.2"  E ; CH1903:  613 358  /  232637