Giant cellar

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The Hünenkeller was a prehistoric grave complex in the area of the Westerhüsen district, which today belongs to the city of Magdeburg .

description

The grave complex was a large stone grave , the type is unknown. It is likely to have been on a hill northwest of the village, probably in the area of ​​today's Magdeburg – Leipzig railway line . In his work Monumentum Magdeburgicum from 1725, Samuel Walther describes the complex as existing. He considered the complex, which was probably still quite extensive, to be the “most elegant place of idolatry in our area”. According to the description, the "stone monument in front of Westerhüsen was lying on a hill". The local population was not particularly interested in the Hünenkeller, "especially since a number of stones have sunk a bit".

When exactly and for what reason the Hünenkeller was destroyed is unknown. The stones were probably used as building material, as was the case with many other prehistoric tombs. When the railroad was built in 1838, the grave had already disappeared.

There was also a path called Hünenkellerweg that ran across the railway site and disappeared when the railway line was laid. During the construction of the railway line, prehistoric graves, tools and stone axes were found in the area of ​​the Hünenkellerweg. The name of the street Am Hünenkeller still refers to the old grave complex. The legend of the Isis temple in Westerhüsen may also go back to the existence of the giant cellar.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Samuel Walther, Monumentum Magdeburgicum, that is news of the antiques in Magdeburg, which concern the origin of the city. Verlag Seidel, Magdeburg and Leipzig 1725, page 45
  2. ^ Friedrich Großhennig: Ortschronik von Westerhüsen. P. 90.
  3. ↑ Olaf Meister , local sagas from Westerhüsen and the surrounding area , epubli Berlin 2019, ISBN 978-3-748572-28-2 , page 66 f.

Coordinates: 52 ° 3 ′ 57.4 "  N , 11 ° 40 ′ 26.3"  E