Kordigast

The title of this article is ambiguous. Further meanings are listed under Kordigast (disambiguation) .

Kordigast
The Eastern view of the Great Kordigast of Woffendorf from
height	538.1  m above sea level NN
location	District of Lichtenfels , Upper Franconia , Bavaria , Germany
Mountains	Altenkunstadt-Buchauer Albvorland ( Upper Main Hügelland / Franconian Alb )
Dominance	4.58 km →  Berg near Köttel ( Lichtenfels )
Coordinates	50 ° 6 '0 "  N , 11 ° 12' 8"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 6 '0 "  N , 11 ° 12' 8"  E
Type	Zeugenberg
rock	Mass limestone with a layer of factory limestone underneath and layers of rock from the Brown Jura
Development	Road to the mountain and hiking trail to the summit
Normal way	from Burkheim or Pfaffendorf in 30 minutes each
particularities	Former mining area and remains of Celtic settlement
View from the Großer Kordigast over Burg- and Altenkunstadt and Woffendorf

The Kordigast ( Franconian dialect Korches ) is one of two neighboring mountains, the Small ( 538.1  m above sea  level ) and the Great Kordigast ( 535.7  m above sea  level ), existing witness mountain of the Franconian Alb near Altenkunstadt in the Upper Franconian district of Lichtenfels ( Bavaria ). It is the northernmost branch of the Franconian Alb .

The mountain was first settled by the Celts in the 4th and 5th centuries BC. While the Kordigast was of little importance for the social fabric of the region in the Middle Ages, it increased again significantly in the early modern period , so that settlements were founded and large folk festivals were held there. The mountain is a popular hiking destination. It is also well known for the annual Kordigast mountain run and the endemic Kordigast whitebeam .

Geographical location and description

Surroundings of the Kordigast

The Kordigast is a witness mountain protruding from the surrounding landscape through the two peaks . The Kleine Kordigast has a height of 538.1  m above sea level. NN ; the Great Kordigast rises 535.7  m above sea level. NN . The terms large and small do not refer to the height of the two peaks, but are to be understood in their historical meaning north / east and south / west .

The Kordigast rises around 230 meters above the Weismaintal in the Altenkunstadt-Buchauer Albvorland , which, as part of the Upper Main hill country, belongs to the northern foothills of the Franconian Alb in the Franconian Switzerland-Veldenstein Forest Nature Park . The dominance to the next higher point in the surrounding area, an unnamed, 558.2 m high mountain ( 50 ° 5 ′  N , 11 ° 9 ′  E ), on the western outskirts of Köttel ( Lichtenfels ), is 4, from the summit of Kleiner Kordigast 58 kilometers. The height of the notch to the next higher mountain cannot be precisely determined due to its location as an extension of a plateau. The next two distinctive mountains are the Staffelberg, 13 km to the west, near Bad Staffelstein, and the Radspitze near Seibelsdorf , 22 km to the northeast. The notch height between the two partial peaks, however, is around 44 m. Due to erosion , the mountain saddle , which separates the Kordigast from the rest of the plateau, will be worn away over time, so that the Pfauengrund and the Tauschendorfer Tal will connect and the mountain will stand detached from the plateau.

Both mountain parts and the individual settlement of the same name Kordigast (Altenkunstadt) not far north of the Großer Kordigast, which consists of the Waldfrieden inn , belong to the municipality of Altenkunstadt . The closest districts of Altenkunstadt are Burkheim and Pfaffendorf in the north. The border to the city of Weismain , whose core lies to the south-east, runs over the southern flanks of the peaks in a south-west-north-east direction . The Kordigast (Weismain) individual settlement at the foot of the Kleiner Kordigast , consisting of a farm to which the Steinerne Hochzeit restaurant is attached, belongs to Weismain, as do two other mountain farms.

Big Kordig guest

The Great Kordigast is a high plateau about 420 meters long and 120 to 210 meters wide, running from west-south-west to east-north-east . On the flanks in the west, south and east it drops steeply like a cliff . The 535.7 m above sea level. NN the highest point of the plateau is at the east-northeast end, in the middle it drops a few meters and rises again towards the west-southwest end. The Großer Kordigast is the much more popular destination of the two partial mountains with hikers and tourists, as it is better developed and more accessible and in the northeast, tree-free area, when the weather is nice, a distant view over the Upper Mainland to the southern foothills of the Thuringian Forest , the Thuringian Slate Mountains , to the Franconian Forest and the Fichtel Mountains . In 2001 the municipality of Altenkunstadt, with the participation of the wood lawyer von Pfaffendorf, created a 1.8 km long circular path around the plateau with funding from the Franconian Switzerland-Veldenstein Forest Nature Park . Information boards on the subject of forest and landscape are set up along the way .

The old summit cross from 1850, around 1925

The summit cross on the Großer Kordigast with a view of the valley

A spring rises north of the Großer Kordigast above the Ornatentonschicht , which represents the upper spring horizon , not far from the Waldfrieden restaurant . The small stream flows through the short Rothental on the northern slope of the Kordigast, which is named after the settlement Rudental or Rodental , which was founded before 1113 and was abandoned in 1390 . It flows into the Kapellenbach east of Pfaffendorf . A ground-level residence, called Burgstall Pfaffendorf , with an area of ​​10 × 15 meters, east of the Rothental and north of the Großer Kordigast on a narrow mountain spur of the Kordigast massif, could be the remains of a tower hill that apparently was never completed. An arched trench is directed towards the south-facing plateau. The Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation runs the residence as a ground monument .

Summit cross
On the plateau of the Großer Kordigast there is a summit cross over five meters high on a solid concrete foundation. Around 1850 a small, iron, gilded cross had already been erected on a stone column held by iron tie rods. In 1955 it had to be replaced by today's cross due to severe weathering.

In the 1990s, the tradition of the Protestant churches of Strössendorf, Altenkunstadt and Burgkunstadt began to Ascension before the summit of the Great Cross Kordigast common worship to celebrate. This field service is held annually with active participation of the population. The Catholic parishes of Burgkunstadt, Altenkunstadt, Weismain and Stadelhofen carry out a pilgrimage to the Great Kordigast every year at Whitsun .

Little Kordig guest

Judenbrunnen on the northern slope of the Kordigast, a small spring

The Kleiner Kordigast is a mountain ridge that slopes steeply on both sides . It has a southwest-northeast extension of about 560 meters. The highest point is at 538.1 m above sea level. NN in the northern area and is officially given as the absolute height of the Kordigast. Towards the southern end, the ridge slopes down slightly and rises again to 534.6 m above sea level before continuing over the Grundhölzer corridor to Tauschendorf . NN at. On the north flank is the small Fuchsloch cave , on the south-west flank the legendary rock group Steinerne Hochzeit, which is only partially preserved . The originally seven figural rock towers have only survived in fragments since the middle of the 20th century. In a small earthquake in 1963, the wedding loaf of bread , a roughly 4 × 4 m large rounded rock, crashed. The rock formation wedding guest , an approximately 7 m high rock needle , smashed the rock gate when it fell .

In October 1998, the Burkheim Horticultural Association carried out the last rock excavation on the Kleiner Kordigast. There is also a small spring on the lower northern mountainside at Kleiner Kordigast; she is very watery. Because of its location on Altstrasse Judenstrasse , it was given the name Judenbrunnen . Until the beginning of the 19th century, it served the Jewish traders on the way from Burgkunstadt to Bamberg as a meeting point and the animals as a cattle trough .

Isolated settlements around the summit

Mountain house

The Berghaus homestead (dialect [ ˈbęrχ.haųs ], read: bärchhaus ) is an old farm at the upper end of the Pfauengrund , a few hundred meters southeast of the Kleiner Kordigast. It has belonged to Weismain since the Second Constitution of the Kingdom of Bavaria was passed in 1818, after which municipalities were formed in Bavaria. On January 1, 2015, five residents were registered there.

Kordigast (Weismain) - stone wedding inn

The hamlet of Kordigast (Weismain), better known as the Steinerne Hochzeit inn (southwest view)

The Steinerne Hochzeit farm and inn at the southeastern foot of the Kleiner Kordigast was built in 1870 by Heinrich Baier from Woffendorf as a mountain farm. Until the municipal reform in 1978 it belonged together with the Gasthof Waldfrieden as a district of Kordigast to the old municipality of Pfaffendorf. At the instigation of the innkeeper at the time, Friedrich Baier, the farm, which was then inhabited by eight people , was incorporated into Weismain under the official name of Kordigast (Weismain) and not, as planned, to Altenkunstadt. The reason was that the farm belonged to the Weismain parish parish. On January 1, 2015, two people lived there.

Kordigast (Altenkunstadt) - Waldfrieden inn

The Waldfrieden inn

Until the local government reform, the Gasthof Waldfrieden belonged together with the Gasthof Steinerne Hochzeit as a district of Kordigast to the old community of Pfaffendorf. In 1978, the Waldfrieden inn and its seven residents were incorporated into Altenkunstadt. Also on June 30, 2013 there were seven Catholic residents there.

Upper hole

Like the two inns, the single settlement Oberloch (dialect [ ˈöbə.lǫχ ], pronounced: ööb ^e loch ) belonged to the old community of Pfaffendorf from 1818 to 1977. The farm has belonged to the city of Weismain since 1978. The name can be interpreted as an upper or rear hidden place of residence . The place was mentioned in 1819 as a hole , in 1827 as the back hole and in 1854 for the first time as the top hole . Like the Berghaus, the homestead is at the top of the Pfauengrund, but closer to the two Kordigast peaks. Four residents of the farm were reported for January 1, 2015.

geology

Black Jura

Geological structure of the Kordigast and the neighboring toadstone (northwest view )

The valley floor and the lowest slopes consist of the Black Jurassic δ formation. In the northern Weismaintal funnel it has a thickness of about 40 meters and consists of a dark gray carbonate claystone with clearly visible silt content . It can best be seen on a few meters on the northeast side of the Kordigast between Bernreuth and Pfaffendorf . The predominant part of the stratum lies just like the underlying characteristics of the Black Jurassic (α to γ) under the earth's surface. The 5 to 6 meter thick Black Jura ε forms a distinct stratification about 15 meters above the valley level. This is best recognizable on the hillside between Bernreuth and Röhrig . The formation consists of characteristic rock containing oil shale , with some stink limestone beds in between . The Black Jura ζ is not clearly separated. At the Kordigast it consists of a layer of marl that is only 3 to 4 meters high , which merges seamlessly from the Black Jura ε into the Brown Jura.

Brown Jura

Geological structure of the Great and Small Kordigast (southeast view)

The Brown Jurassic rocks take the lower and middle slopes of the Kordigast from about 310 m above sea level. NN a. In keeping with the name, brown rock and soil colors predominate. Up to a height of around 375 m above sea level. The gently rising valley slopes consist of Opalinus Clay , the Braunjura α. Like the Black Jura it is only indistinctly delimited above and below, so that its thickness can only be estimated at about 60 m according to the geologist Friedrich Leitz. It consists of gray, low -carbonate mudstone with many lime and Toneisenstein - concretions . On the surface, the rock gets its brown color through the weathering process of the oxidation of the divalent to the trivalent iron and turns into loam interspersed with lime and clay iron nodules. However, it is rarely seen in this pure form. Over large parts of the Kordigast slopes it is covered on the surface by rubble from the iron sandstone above and forms a loamy-sandy soil. The Braunjura α has few fossils in the lower meters, except for the ammonite Leioceras opalinum, which gives the Opalinus Clay its name .

The Braunjura β forms an iron sandstone step and extends from about 375 to 435 m above sea level. NN, so occupies the middle slope of the Kordigast. The layer has a brownish-yellow to reddish-brown color, that of the finely divided limonite - pigments due. As a water-containing iron ore mixture, they gave the iron sandstone its name. About 12–15 m below the upper edge of the Brown Jurassic β, this layer has an iron ore seam about 0.5 to 1 m thick with an iron content of around 30%. Deviating details of the ore content from the 19th century are not representative, as they are based on the measurement results of individual conspicuous ore chunks. The iron upper seam on the Kordigast consists of oolitic iron ore , predominantly of goethite spheres, which were deposited as a flat mud on the once finely sandy seabed of the Jurassic Sea . Occasionally ore pebbles, limonite rinds and mussel prints can also be found in the seam .

The upper three Braunjura layers γ, δ and ε together form an approximately 15 m thick regalia layer 435 to 450 m above sea level. NN. It separates itself from the steep upper edge of the iron sandstone and the almost wall-like beginning of the White Jura as a gently rising, 50-100 m wide terrace-like slope. Due to the almost complete forest cover on this level, it does not stand out as clearly as in previous centuries, when there were mostly fields and meadows. The regalia is gray in color and contains numerous limestone fragments from the rock above. Due to the poor exposure conditions, a tripartite division of the layer can only be seen occasionally. The lower gamma layer, approximately two to three feet thick is from calcareous sandstone benches and sand lenses interspersed tone. The middle, two to four meters thick delta layer is formed from Eisenoolith limestone , which are relatively hard, tough limestone spheres with a brown bark and a bluish core. After frost blast , they are mostly only present as broken pieces. The remaining almost ten meters thick brown Jurassic ε layer emerges as a light gray, stiff, plastic, low-lime clay. In the unweathered state, underground, it has a semi-solid to solid consistency and is rich in fossils in layers.

In all three layers there are particularly large brown irons - ooids that can be seen with the naked eye. The youngest Brown Jura layer ζ was not deposited in the entire Obermaing area or only in negligible amounts.

White Jura

Freely accessible prospect to discover fossils in the bank lime layer at the hiking car park not far from the Großer Kordigast

The actual mountain is made up of reefs of the White Jura . The lowest two White Jura levels α and β form a uniform floor of a good 25 meters at the Kordigast and in the entire Weismain area. Nevertheless, they consist of different rocks. The alpha formation, which is also called lower marl limestone there, consists mainly of marls . The beta formation consists of fine-grained, smooth-breaking limestone . It is rich in fossils such as ammonites , belemnites , thin-shelled shells and calcite crystals that arise in cavities. The common name for the layer Werkkalk but in the Upper Main region misleading because the country's banking limestones not frost resistant and therefore as work material are not suitable. On the Kordigast, the alpha and beta levels are at an altitude of 450 to 475 m above sea level. NN. The iron layer silicate glauconite also occurs at the boundaries of the layer .

Above the already flattening but easily separable beta level begins at 475 m above sea level. NN the 25–35 m thick layer of Weißjura γ, also known as Upper Marl Limestone . This clayey marl layer rises gently to moderately and serves as agricultural land in the area southeast of the two Kordigast peaks above the two individual settlements Berghaus and Oberloch. Occasionally there are larger limestone banks or lumpy limestone beds in the formation. From about 500 m above sea level NN begins the mass limestone formation of the Weißjuras d, which forms the two partial peaks of the Kordigast. Like the White Jurassic layers underneath, it contains numerous fossils such as silicified sponges , trochite rubble lime and mussels .

flora

• 

  The small gold star,
  native to the foot of the Kordigast and a very rare lily plant throughout Central Europe

• 

  A specimen of the Kordigast whitebeam west of the Great Kordigast

• 

  Meadow sage on Kordigast

Beech forest on the northern slope of the Kordigast

Due to its differently structured soil layers from the valley floors in the north and east to the peaks and through agricultural management, the Kordigast has produced a very diverse vegetation with some rarities. Geology and flora are closely related to each other.

The first detailed botanical studies and records of the Kordigast and the adjacent mountain slopes, meeting scientific demands, were made in the late 19th century and around the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. They were compiled and published in 1907 by Kurt Harz in his volume Flora of Vascular Plants from Kulmbach and the adjacent areas of the Fichtelgebirge, Franconian Forest and Franconian Jura . The book contains numerous discoveries made by the then Weismain official veterinarian and hobby botanist Alfred Ade on the Kordigast, the Kröttenstein , in the Pfauengrund , on the Külmitz and near Bernreuth . He listed several plant species whose existence in the Kordigast area is now considered unknown or no longer certain. These include arnica , long-leaved rabbit's ear , field marigold , round leek , field Meier and yellow Günsel . In 1914, Harz listed the other species of white field cabbage , wild garlic , bog clover and sweet peas in the flora of vascular plants in Bamberg . Their occurrence on the mountain cannot currently be ruled out, as, for example, the field cabbage was found in the summers of 1997 and 1998 in a field between the Waldfrieden inn and the Great Kordigast plateau. A total of 221 plant species in the Kordigast area are listed in the two volumes of Harz. Until the 1960s there were also orchid stands in bloom between the two Kordigast peaks in early summer and several rich stands of gentian species in autumn . However, due to the increasing forest cover in this area and the associated greater amount of shadow, these sun-loving plants perished.

The following two sections represent reliable, current botanical research results.

Valley floor to the edge of the forest

From the Kapellenbach on the valley floor in the north to the forest edges on the north flank of the Kordigast, the vegetation is characteristic of the soil containing the Opalinus Clay. Directly by the stream growing tree species of willow silver and silver Bruchweide . On the edges of meadows and fields there are larger shrub species such as the bird cherry and the common viburnum . In spring, the inconspicuous musk herb grows in damp places such as under trees, occasionally like a carpet, and the forest gold star and the Turkish lily grow on the bushes and forest edges . The small gold star is a botanical rarity , which was discovered at the end of the 1990s under a group of old linden trees on the southern outskirts of Tauschendorf and until then was only known in Bamberg's Luisenhain throughout Upper Franconia .

Forests and summit areas

In the areas on and around the two mountain peaks, the flora is characterized by dry, chalky soils . According to the botanist Norbert Meyer, these are raw soils , proto and mulled endzines and brown earth pararendzines . Species such as the liverwort , the calcareous blue grass , the finger sedge and the mountain sedge as well as the rare and very poisonous yellow monkshood grow above all in the limestone ridge of the Kleiner Kordigast, the forest there and on its edge . In the rock and summit areas there is also the milkweed . At the edges of the forest, the woolly and the common snowball appear more frequently , whose brightly colored berry stands are clearly visible in autumn. Not far from Gasthof Waldfrieden, forest anemones , meadow sage and columbine thrive on the wayside , as well as cat paws on a small juniper heather on the Kleiner Kordigast . Larger native shrub species are, in addition to the two snowball species, the Franconian whitebeam and the endemic Kordigast whitebeam , named after the mountain and only occurring in a small area .

The wood pieces mainly consist of mixing and deciduous woods with Scots pine , spruce and red and hornbeam . In the lower slopes there are also pure coniferous forests . Most of these forest areas emerged from coppice forests or first afforestation in the last century and are very species-rich in both the tree and shrub layers.

Settlement and usage history

Prehistoric and early historical settlement

On the Großer Kordigast there are traces of human settlement from pre-Christian times. In addition to smaller, early La Tène ceramic finds from the 5th century BC. This also includes the negligibly small remains of the foundations of a post slot wall from the period between 600 and 400 BC. At least one tumulus , also of Celtic origin, is 50 meters northwest of the Great Kordigast.

The stone wall used to enclose the entire plateau and divided it in half by a small, curved wall. The wall consisted of stacked boulders held in place by vertical and horizontal wooden posts. The width was about 5, the outer height about 1.4 meters. The main part of the fortress was probably at the eastern end of the plateau, as it drops more steeply there than in the west and the wall in the middle curved to the west. A gate has not yet been proven, but was probably in the southwestern part of the plateau. At the time of the Celtic settlement of the Kordigast there was also a Celtic defense system on the Staffelberg , to which there was visual contact. They were political centers of small regions with an area of ​​about five to ten kilometers.

• 

  Sketch of the fortifications on the great Kordigast plateau

• 

  Drawing of a Celtic stone wall from the 5th century BC. BC, identical to the one on the Kordigast (only difference: wall width in the sketch only 2.5 m)

• 

  The Celtic barrow not far from the Great Kordigast

Middle Ages and Early Modern Times

Oldest known map of the Kordigast. Created in 1672 on the occasion of a disputed shaft drive near Giechkröttendorf.

Since the first mention of the mountain in 1376, the Kordigast belonged solely to the Cistercian monastery of Langheim , the rulers were the bishops of Bamberg. In the Middle Ages, the Kordigast was cleared much more than it is today, and for a long time it was completely free from forests. A lot of agriculture and grazing was carried out and space was needed for the numerous individual farms and the only larger settlement, Rudental . The farm to which the Waldfrieden inn belongs was first attested to in 1419.

In 1672 there was a dispute between the Langheim monastery , which had been in the possession of the Giechkröttendorf castle estate since 1618 , and the village communities of Pfaffendorf and Burkheim because of the drive in the corridors around the Kordigast. According to the monastery administrator, the monastery had grazing rights up to the northern foothills of the Kordigast. Pfaffendorf and Burkheim, on the other hand, claimed grazing rights right into the corridors of Giechkröttendorf. In vigilante justice , the estate manager confiscated the Pfaffendorfer shepherd's flock of sheep that were staying on the supposedly monastic pasture. The Langheim abbot Alberich Semmelmann had the Lichtenfels painter and cartographer Johann Jakob Schmidt make a map of the disputed area in order to resolve the disputes by defining the boundaries precisely. It is considered the oldest known map showing Kordigast and its surroundings and is in the Bamberg State Archives .

19th and 20th centuries until today

The "Judenstras" (center) from Altenkunstadt / Röhrig over the Kordigast and on to Scheßlitz.

The Berghof built in 1870 with the Steinerne Hochzeit inn

Due to the Reichsdeputation Hauptschluss , the Bamberg Monastery came to the then Electorate of Bavaria in 1803 , so that the Kordigast, who was under the Langheim monastery as part of the Pfaffendorf community, became state property. Until Burgkunstadt was connected to the railway network in 1846, a much-used Jewish trade route, the so-called Judenstrasse , ran over the Kordigast . It connected Altenkunstadt with Scheßlitz and Bamberg and was mainly used by the Jewish cattle breeders and drivers in Altenkunstadt to sell the animals at the larger cattle markets in and around Bamberg. It leads past around 50 localities without going through any of the settlements directly, as customs had to be paid for both the traders and the cattle to pass through localities. The Judenstras connected Altenkunstadt with Bamberg in a relatively straight line and was therefore much shorter than the route in the valley through the villages. The route was already a high-altitude trail known in pre-Christian times , as evidenced by individual finds and burial mounds along the route.

From the middle of the 19th century, larger festivals were celebrated on the Kordigast, three of which are of particular importance. The first was a folk festival to celebrate the proclamation of Archduke Johann of Austria as Reichsverweser on June 29, 1848. A month later, the Dankesfest or Schaumburgsches Freischießen followed on July 23, 1848. It was organized by the then Strössendorf lord of the palace, Philipp von Schaumberg, for the Altenkunstadter Freikorps organized. Von Schaumberg wanted to use the festival where deer were shot to thank the riflemen who, with their patrols during the March Revolution in 1848, had also saved his castle and property from looting. On October 18, 1863, the third major festival was a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the victory over Napoleon in the Battle of Leipzig . In the first decades of the 20th century, numerous hiking and gymnastics club festivals were celebrated on the mountain.

Mining

Former tunnel entrance on Kordigast

Between 1718 and 1938 iron ore was briefly mined several times on the northern slope of the Kordigast . In the approximately 60 m thick brown Jurassic iron sandstone layer (Dogger-ß) on the Kordigast there is a nearly one meter high iron ore seam with an iron content of 30%. The ore was mined most intensively in the second half of the 19th century, as there was a great need for the raw material due to the construction of the railways and the industrial revolution. Due to a lack of profitability, mining was finally stopped in 1938 with the closure of the Concordia tunnel above Burkheim. Not far from this tunnel there was a second one, both of which are completely overgrown and can no longer be found. The cadastre of the geotopes of Bavaria classifies the two tunnels as geologically inferior . The plan to reopen one of the two tunnels as part of the nature park program in 1999 was not implemented. It was to serve as a wintering quarters for bats and amphibians , secured with a steel mesh door .

In the Middle Ages and early modern times, numerous smaller quarries were operated for building houses on the Kordigast and on the surrounding mountains such as the Külmitz . In addition to building blocks made of sandstone , lime was also extracted from the White Jurassic alpha and beta layers. In Pfaffendorf, the Grebner brothers produced quicklime between 1932 and 1947 . Limestone from their own small quarry on the Kordigast served as the starting material, which they brought to Pfaffendorf in horse-drawn vehicles and processed there in their lime kiln . In 1947 operations were stopped and the lime kiln was demolished.

etymology

Originated from Slavic

Designation of Kordigast as Mons Cordicas in a design drawing to round off the Altenkunstadter parish district in 1818

The mountain name is derived from the Slavic male name Chotegost , after the linguists Ernst Schwarz and Ernst Eichler . The possessive suffix -jь was originally attached to the name , from which the basic form Chotegošc arose, the second member of which was Germanized as -gast . The names Trebgast , Marktleugast , Marktschorgast and others were created analogously . The name of the mountain can therefore be interpreted as the mountain of a Chotegost .

Further development of the name

There were different names and spellings until the 19th century. While the spellings of writers from the area around the mountain remained almost the same from the 17th century onwards, for the centuries before and in the writings of non-local authors from all centuries, sometimes strongly different names can be found.

The oldest known record dates from a deed of Friedrich von Scheßlitz and Klosterlangheim from the year 1376. The village is mentioned there as "Kotgast", as well as in a Langheimer Urbar of 1419/1420. In other documents and monastery registers from Langheim is 1422 "Kotygast", around 1450 "Kostgast" and between 1479 and 1494 "Kottigast", "Cottigaß", "Kotigiß" and "Kotigist" and around 1530 again "Kottigast". The mountain "Kotthias" is written in the above map from 1672. Magister Johann Will mentioned the mountain in his description of the Weismain area in his book Das Teutsche Paradeiß in 1692 as "Kotyrsberg" or "Kotirsberg". A map of the territory of Count Giech from 1712 contains the spelling "Kottiges". In a Langheim certificate from 1720, it again says “Kottigast” and “Köttiges”. Johann Caspar Bundschuh called the mountain in 1801 in his lexicon about Franconia as “Kortikas”, for the following year the name “Kottigast” is listed in a hereditary interest register of the Bamberg caste office in Weismain, analogous to Langheim typography. The only Latin name is "Mons Cordicas" in a draft to round off the Altenkunstadter parish of 1818. In the geographical-statistical description of the Upper Main District written by KF Hohn from 1827, he mentions the two mountains as "small and large" [r] Kottigas ”. The current spelling can be found for the first time in 1854 in an original cadastre of the Pfaffendorf tax community. In 1884 there was a different spelling for the last time by L. Hager in the local history of the Lichtenfels district with "Cordigast" . In other sources from the years 1894, 1907, 1950 and 1978 only the current spelling is used.

Classification and conclusion

From the spelling Kottigas or Kottigast, which has appeared since the 17th century, and the Franconian dialect name [ ˈkhǫr.χəs ] (pronounced: kh'orch ^e s ), today's name Kordigast developed . The dialectal form shows a rhotazism from the intervocal t to the r, as in father to local dialect fårə or mother to local dialect mųre . The designation Kotgast 1376 and in later years are purely written forms, whereas Kottigast and similar forms of name are to be regarded as acoustically authentic traditions. The newer spellings from 1801 with -rd or -rt can be interpreted as a mixed or compromise form of the written tradition and the dialect.

Protected areas and geotopes

To the west, south and east of the Kordigast is the multi-part fauna-flora-habitat area of dry grass, meadows and forests around Weismain (FFH no. 5933-371), reaching up to its flanks . The mountain is located entirely in the northern part of the great 2001 founded and 1,021.64 square kilometers Nature Preserve Nature Park Franconian Switzerland Veldenstein Forest (LSG no. 322697).

The Bavarian State Office for the Environment (LfU) classifies the rock group on the Großer Kordigast as "geoscientifically valuable" (geotope number: 478R021). These rock formations are also designated as natural monuments .

The prospecting site at Kordigast has been identified by the LfU as a "geoscientific geotope" (geotope number: 478A011).

The former iron ore mining on the Kordigast has been designated by the LfU as a "geoscientific geotope (geotope number: 478G001)".

See also : List of geotopes in the Lichtenfels district

Kordigastberglauf

Statistics of the mountain run

year	Winner male	Winning time (in h)	Winner female	Winning time (in h)	Finisher
December 1, 2007	NN	> 00:20:00	Anke Härtl	00:23:42	126
December 6, 2008	Stephan Bayer	00:20:10	Anke Härtl	00:23:42	123
December 5, 2009	Stephan Bayer	00: 20: 09.42	Anke Härtl	00: 23: 31.71	136
4th December 2010	Valentin Schuhmann	00:21:54	Anke Härtl	00:23:30	104
December 3, 2011	Valentin Schuhmann	00:19:58	Anke Härtl	00:24:12	95
December 1, 2012	Mitke Seboka Tulu	00:19:19	Carmen Schlichting-Förtsch	00:24:23	161
December 7, 2013	Mitke Seboka Tulu	00:19:14	Ulrike Schwalbe	00:24:41	139
December 6, 2014	Kevin Karrer	00:20:31	Ulrike Schwalbe	00:23:33	104
5th December 2015	Kevin Karrer	00:20:24	Ulrike Schwalbe	00:23:27	141
December 10, 2016	Daniel Götz	00:19:45	Carmen Schlichting-Förtsch	00:24:48	120
December 9, 2017	Kevin Karrer	00:20:45	Sophia Franz	00:26:30	118

Route profile of the Kordigastberglauf

The SCW Weismain has been organizing the Kordigastberglauf since 2007. It is a mountain run with a relatively short route length of 4.8 km to 5.16 km compared to other known mountain runs and a route profile of 285 meters in altitude . The greatest gradient is 22.8%, the average 7.2%.

The participants usually come from all over northern Bavaria. All age groups are allowed to start, including children. The run takes place every year on the first weekend of December, regardless of the weather conditions, so that the route had to be covered in 2011 with the snow cover already closed. The fourth mountain run, in 2010, was the first district mountain championship of the Bavarian Athletics Association district of Upper Franconia (BLSV district II Kronach-Lichtenfels-Coburg). In 2012 the run was held for the first time as one of three runs of the Mountain Run Cup alongside the Adam Riese Staffelberg Run and the HONDA Berglauf Höhn. The competition was jointly organized by SCW Weismain, TSV Bad Staffelstein and SV Bergdorf-Höhn. The award ceremony of the Berglauf Cup took place together with that of the Kordigastberglauf. Participants described the Kordigast mountain run as the "toughest [...]" and "[...] most idyllic" of all three races.

Trophies, medals and certificates are awarded as prizes . In 2008 a team evaluation was carried out for the first time, which is endowed with various prizes . The city winner's special prize has been awarded since 2009. It goes to the fastest runner from one of the Weismain districts, whereby Weismainers themselves are excluded, and is associated with the presentation of a challenge cup to the winner, the Korches-Bergmeister . Since 2011, this prize has also been given to the fastest female city runner, the “Korches Mountain Queen”.

The route begins at the parking lot at the municipal building yard in Weismain . From there it first leads through the district of Giechkröttendorf in Pfauengrund and turns north in the center of the village. After the first kilometer run, the subsoil changes from asphalt to a paved forest path with earth and gravel . The dirt road on which the route continues contains the first major climb immediately north of Giechkröttendorf with a length of 800 meters and a gradient of up to 15 percent. Then the path leads first through a forest, then over open terrain and ends after another ascent and the circling of the Großer Kordigast on the summit plateau.

Legends, stories and poetry

Say

Saga of the Cross

The main legend of the Kordigast is the cross saga about the Great Kordigast. It exists in several versions, the two following being the best known. The legends can be seen against the background that the Kordigast, like many other areas in the northern Franconian Jura, was forest-free for centuries due to intensive sheep grazing. A slightly different form of this legend is the Fuhrnickel legend . It was written at the end of the 19th century and is in prose form. Like the saga of the cross, it poetically explains the erection of the summit cross on the Great Kordigast.

Saga of the stone wedding

The legend of the Stone Wedding describes the creation of the striking rock formation Stone Wedding on the Kleiner Kordigast. It also exists in slightly different versions. The following is sometimes the shortest and most common:

“In the wedding house the meal was ready and waiting for the bride and groom and guests. On the way back from the church to the remote parish village, the wedding party was delayed. The cook, annoyed by this delay, uttered a terrible curse in her indignation: the strollers should freeze to rock. The curse came true. The wedding party turned to rock where it met the damnation. "

- Popular saying

What is strange, however, is the fact that the legend has been handed down for several rock formations with the name Stone Bride or Stone Wedding Procession in Lautergrund , in the Lichtenfels - Bad Staffelstein area. Karl Brückner published this version of the legend in his volume Legends and Local History from the Jura Mountains in 1929 with the following wording:

“The meal in the wedding house was ready. The bride and groom and guests were late on their way back from the church in the distant parish village. So a quarter of an hour passed by a quarter of an hour. Then the angry cook uttered a horrible curse: Those who are late do not want to return at all, but instead freeze to the rock where their feet are treading. And the expected really never came back. Bridegroom and Bride and everyone in their entourage. The curse was fulfilled. Today, after hundreds of years, the wedding party still stands where its fate overtook it. "

- Popular expression / Karl Brückner

Fish legend

The Nuremberg dialect poet Wilhelm Malter mentions in the work Oberfranken West from 1965, which he edited , according to which a large fish is hidden inside the Kordigast, with its tail in its mouth. When the fish stretches, the earth jumps up and the area is flooded. This legend is local but not common and also stereotypical for karst areas. This legend is much better known for the Staffelberg .

Poetry

The Burkheim local poet Franz-Joseph Ahles wrote the following five poems about the Kordigast at the beginning of the 20th century:

• A song from Kordigast (version set to music under the name Kordigastlied based on the melody of the Palatinate song )
• A song from the Kordigast
• Off to the Kordigast
• My Kordigast stays beautiful forever
• My Kordigast, how beautiful are you

The first two have the same name, but are completely different in terms of content. All five poems are contained in the book Songs of the Singer from Kordigast . A total of five editions of this have been published so far. This was done partly by the author's own publishing and partly jointly by the Sparkasse Coburg - Lichtenfels and the printing company HO Schulze from Lichtenfels.

literature

• Gregor Aas , Matthias Kohles: Distribution, frequency and rejuvenation of Sorbus cordigastensis (Kordigast whitebeam) in the northern Franconian Alb . In: Tuexenia . tape 31 , 2011, p. 59–71 ( online (PDF; 839 kB) [accessed on May 18, 2012]).
• Ingrid Burger-Segl: Archaeological Forays in Meranierland am Obermain , Upper Franconia District, Bayreuth 2006, ISBN 3-9804971-7-8
• Alois Dechant, Gerhard W. Peetz: hiking guide Weismain . Marie Link Verlag, Kronach 2010, OCLC 642995569 .
• Günter Dippold (Ed.): Weismain - A Franconian city on the northern Jura 1 . Dechant Bau, Weismain 2011, ISBN 978-3-9814302-0-2 .
• Dieter George: The Kordigast - history and name . In Heimatgeschichtliche Zeitschrift for the district of Lichtenfels , Volume 2, Verlag Vom Main zum Jura, Eggolsheim 1985, pp. 57-69
• Johann B. Johannes: Der Kordigast with neighboring heights , o. O., approx. 1953, OCLC 633890632 (12 pages).
• Josef Motschmann: Altenkunstadt - home between Kordigast and Main . Altenkunstadt community, Altenkunstadt, 2006, DNB 982676182
• Johann Baptist Müller: Heimat um den Kordigast , Reif, Burgkunstadt 1966, length: 12 pages, OCLC 16371574 (supplement to the annual report 1965/66 Staatliche Realschule Burgkunstadt).
• Josef Schröder: Burkheim - A village and its residents , Lichtenfels district office, Lichtenfels 1995, scope: 23 pages
• Josef Schröder: Burkheim - Altenkunstadt community in the Lichtenfels district - a village and its residents , Lichtenfels district office, Lichtenfels 1998, 31 pages
• Erich Walter: Mountain and Village - Kordigast and Burkheim . Government of Upper Franconia, Bayreuth, 1999
• Ingrid Weiskopf, Karin Raab-Aydin (eds.): Burgkunstadt, Altenkunstadt, Weismain - Art and Culture - Things worth knowing and interesting yesterday and today, Die Kulturmacher eV, Altenkunstadt 2000, DNB 991045734

Web links

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

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Aas (2011), p. 59
2. ↑ ^{a b} map services ( memento of the original from December 19, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. of the BfN  
3. ↑ Walter (1999), p. 48
4. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s} Dippold (2011), pp. 32–52
5. ↑ ^{a b c} Information board about the Kordigast and the Celtic barrow, commons.wikimedia.org, accessed on September 1, 2012
6. ↑ Google Maps rangefinder Kordigast-Berg near Köttel , maps.google.de, accessed on September 1, 2012
7. ↑ Distances Staffelberg, Kordigast and Radspitze in the Bayern Viewer ( memento of the original from November 11, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , geodaten.bayern.de, accessed on September 1, 2012  
8. ↑ ^{a b c} The Kordigast in the Bayern Viewer ( memento of the original from November 11, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , geodaten.bayern.de, accessed on September 1, 2012  
9. ↑ ^{a b} Johannes (1953), pp. 5-11
10. ↑ ^{a b c} Walter (1999), pp. 8-11
11. ↑ ^{a b} Dechant (2010), pp. 28–33
12. ↑ Information board "All around the Kordigast" is located at the Kordigast hiking car park
13. ↑ ^{a b} Walter (1999), p. 53
14. ↑ Motschmann (2006), pp. 17-18
15. ↑ Burger-Segl (2006), p. 121.
16. ↑ Archaeological monument of the medieval mansion at ground level on the Kordigast (D-4-5833-0054) ( Memento of the original dated November 11, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Bavarian State Office for Monument Preservation, geodaten.bayern.de, accessed on September 2, 2012  
17. ↑ Motschmann (2006), p. 167
18. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Walter (1999), pp. 14-19
19. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n} Motschmann 2006, pp. 123–125
20. ↑ "Jesus is the ladder to God" field service of the Protestant parishes on the Kordigast . obermain.de. Retrieved September 2, 2012.
21. ^ Events calendar of the city of Weismain 2012 ( memento of January 26, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), stadt-weismain.de, accessed on September 2, 2012
22. ↑ ^{a b} Schröder (1998), p. 25.
23. ↑ ^{a b c} Motschmann 2006, p. 83 f.
24. ^ Eugen Hartmann: Statistics of the Kingdom of Bavaria . Self-published by the general management of the royal transport authorities, Munich 1866, p. 19 ( online in Google Book Search).
25. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h} Dippold (2011), pp. 110–111
26. ↑ ^{a b c} Distribution of residents in the city of Weismain on January 1, 2015 ( memento from January 5, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), stadt-weismain.de, accessed on October 10, 2015
27. ↑ ^{a b c d} George (1985), pp. 57-69
28. ↑ Motschmann (2006), p. 183
29. ↑ Official Gazette of the Altenkunstadt Community, No. 7/2013, page 3 (PDF; 2.8 MB)
30. ↑ Dippold (2011), p. 112
31. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h} See diagram of the geological structure of the Great and Small Kordigast (southeast view)
32. ↑ ^{a b c} Walter (1999), pp. 6-8
33. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Walter (1999), pp. 32–42
34. ↑ ^{a b c} Schröder (1995), p. 20.
35. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Motschmann (2006), p. 10
36. ^ Dippold (2011), p. 175
37. ↑ Motschmann (2006), pp. 58-60
38. ↑ Former iron ore mining on the Kordigast (PDF; 161 kB), lfu.bayern.de, accessed on September 5, 2012
39. ↑ Motschmann (2006), p. 12
40. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Walter (1999), pp. 12-13
41. ↑ Johann Will: Das Teutsche Paradeiß (1692), see Magister Johann Will and the “Teutsche Paradeiß” in the Fichtelgebirge , bayern-fichtelgebirge.de, accessed on September 6, 2012
42. ↑ Dry grassland, meadows and forests around Weismain , lfu.bayern.de, accessed on September 6, 2012
43. ↑ Bavarian State Office for the Environment, Geotop rock group on the Großer Kordigast (accessed on October 14, 2017).
44. ↑ Bavarian State Office for the Environment, Geotop mining site at Kordigast SE in Burkheim (accessed on October 14, 2017).
45. ↑ Bavarian State Office for the Environment, Geotope Former iron ore mining on Kordigast SW of Altenkunstadt (accessed on October 14, 2017).
46. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k} Schuhmann in record time on the Kordigast , infranken.de, accessed on February 2, 2013
47. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m} With a lead of over a minute at the summit cross . obermain.de. Retrieved on September 7, 2012.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )
48. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} With new best times on the Kordigast , scwobermain.de, accessed on September 7, 2012
49. ↑ ^{a b c d} Uwe Bäuerlein: Results list Kordigastberglauf 2009 . uwebäuerlein.de. Retrieved on September 7, 2012.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )
50. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Valentin Schuhmann is the first to reach the summit cross . obermain.de. Retrieved on September 7, 2012.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )
51. ↑ ^{a b c} Record for the mini anniversary . Bayerische Rundschau , p. 27 (via steinachtallauf.de). December 6, 2011. Accessed September 7, 2012.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )
52. ↑ 6th Kordigast Mountain Run 2012 , obermain-marathon.de, accessed on February 2, 2013 (PDF, 2.73 MB)
53. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Stefan Lutter: Ethiopians get "Korches-Krone" . In: Bayerische Rundschau , December 3, 2012, p. 28 (PDF, 1.72 MB)
54. ↑ ^{a b} Ethiopian wins the Weismainer Kordigastlauf , infranken.de, accessed on July 8, 2014
55. ↑ ^{a b} Result list "2nd Obermain Mountain Running Cup 2013" women (PDF; 35.23 kB) . skiverein-weismain.de. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 8, 2014.
56. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Results service for all events and competitions , tv-weismain.de, accessed on December 6, 2015
57. ↑ ^{a b c} overall ranking Kordigastberglauf ~ Kordigast-Berglauf-2016 , tv-weismain.de, accessed on January 3, 2018
58. ↑ ^{a b c} overall ranking Kordigastberglauf ~ Kordigast-Berglauf-2017 , tv-weismain.de, accessed on January 3, 2018
59. ↑ ^{a b} 6th Kordigastberlauf 2012 - invitation to tender (PDF; 11 kB) . skiverein-weismain.de. Archived from the original on November 11, 2013. Retrieved September 8, 2012.
60. ↑ Kordigast calls for the fourth time to run In addition to the "Korches Queen", the district mountain master is also determined , genios-presse.de, accessed on September 7, 2012
61. ↑ Newsletter 105 (PDF; 781 kB), obermain-marathon.de, accessed on September 7, 2012
62. ↑ Der Kordigast is calling for the fourth time , infranken.de, accessed on February 2, 2013
63. ↑ Weiskopf (2000), p. 197

See also

• List of mountains and elevations in the Franconian Alb

This article was added to the list of excellent articles on June 10, 2013 in this version .