Kitzkammer

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Kitzkammer in May 2015

The Kitzkammer is a natural monument on the Hohe Meißner near Hausen . From the Viehhaus parking lot on the L 3241 above hiking trail 4 with a 1.7 km tour, the Kitzkammer is roughly halfway along this hiking trail. The Kitzkammer can also be reached from the Naturfreundehaus Meißnerhaus, also via hiking trail 4.

At the beginning of the Tertiary (60 million years ago) the Meißner area was a shallow depression with a subtropical climate. Dense cypress forests grew here , from which Meißner coal later developed.

At the end of the Tertiary (approx. 5 million years ago) thin liquid lava penetrated through cracks in the earth's surface , which crystallized perpendicular to the cooling surface , so that five- and polygonal (blue) basalt columns were created. The resulting transverse columnar basalt can be clearly seen on the Kitzkammer. The Kitzkammer itself is one of these chimneys.

The characteristic shape of the Meissner was formed over the last 1.5 million years by washing away the softer rocks, whereby the thick basalt cover still protects the Meissner from major erosion .

Fairy tale / legend

The Kitzkammer is also a place of Frau Holle .

In the folk tale of the Meißnerberge by Karl Christoph Schmieder (1819) it says:

“Frau Holle took special care of the poor girls who were faithlessly abandoned by their fiancés. Many of them were vain and addicted to cleaning. Each wanted to be the most beautiful, and there was much envy and argument among them. When Frau Holle came home one day and saw the quarrels, she became angry. She shook her magic bell and immediately the girls were turned into cats. They were banished to a rocky cave on the evening side of the Meissner. The cave is now called the Kitzkammer. From there the cats had to spread out over the whole mountain and serve Mrs. Holle. They had to show the good hikers the way, but lead the bad ones astray. "

Other stories in connection with Ms. Holle are also told from the Kitzkammer, such as this one:

“Often it is said that a tall white woman appears to the hiker there. She carries a huge bunch of keys and walks silently next to the hiker until she disappears into the fawn chamber. A shepherd boy from Hausen saw her like this, and she wanted to give him a golden key so that he could unlock her subterranean kingdom. But the boy was frightened and he chased home. "

The stories about the Kitzkammer often speak of a tall white woman or Frau Holle .

The name Kitzkammer probably comes from Kitz or Kiez ("Käuzchen"). Owls like the tawny owl like to stay in caves.

photos

Web links

Commons : Kitzkammer  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Karl Christoph Schmieder (1778–1850) spent most of his life as a high school professor in Kassel. He published numerous books, the history of alchemy being the only work that has had an impact to this day.
  2. The white woman is a fabulous figure who, as Perchta- Hulda, has become part of Nordic mythology.
  3. Frau Holle is a Central European legendary figure and figure in the fairy tale of the same name by the Brothers Grimm (see Grimm's fairy tales ).

Coordinates: 51 ° 12 ′ 29.28 "  N , 9 ° 50 ′ 10.98"  E