Gray stone (Ermatingen)
The gray stone is a large erratic block near Ermatingen in the canton of Thurgau . It is considered to be the largest boulder in the canton. The name refers to its gray color.
location
The stone is located in the forest at an altitude of 512 m above sea level. M. east of Fruthwilen . It can be easily reached from the hiking trail to Hubberg Castle via a signposted forest path.
description
The gray stone consists of sea monkey / Rorschacher sandstone , a sandstone with enclosed mussel shells and fragments. Around 20,000 years ago, during the last Ice Age, it was pushed into its place from the Rorschacherberg through the Rhine Glacier. Today it is overgrown with bushes and covered with moss and blackberry tendrils.
In the 19th century, material from gray stone was used in Ermatingen for building houses and roads, for example around 1870 for building a house and a wall by the lake. Previously, its dimensions should have been 12 × 4 × 3 meters.
A request to blow up the stone was rejected by the local council in 1890. At the request of secondary school teacher Jakob Engeli (1844–1923), the community of Ermatingen, as the owner, decided to keep the block intact.
The board attached to the stone indicates its use as a material supplier:
«It was in the Ice Age when
I slipped here on the back of the glacier and believed that I
would find the happiness of eternal rest.
I saw the glacier ice disappear below me.
But human misunderstanding and petty envy
in the 19th century brought me a lot of suffering;
for with powerful blows and powder force
I was pulled from my body piece by piece.
They were dedicated to building houses and roads.
I'm only a bit from the glacier era. "
literature
- Christian Wieland: Jakob Engeli (1844–1923) - A source researcher . Thurgauer Jahrbuch , Vol. 55, 1980, pp. 52-56. ( e-periodica.ch )
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ napoleonturm-hohenrain.ch
- ^ Johann Jakob Früh: Erratic blocks and their preservation in Thurgau; October 27, 1906; P. 14
Coordinates: 47 ° 39 '37 " N , 9 ° 4' 22.2" E ; CH1903: 722754 / 280126