Lehnekenstein
| Lehnekenstein Bridal stone | |||
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 The Lehnchenstein between Rustenbeck and Markau |
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| Coordinates | 52 ° 48 '44.9 " N , 10 ° 49' 18.2" E | ||
| place | Berga , Saxony-Anhalt , Germany | ||
The Lehnekenstein (also called Brautstein ) is a menhir in Bonese , a district of Dehre in the Altmarkkreis Salzwedel in Saxony-Anhalt .
Name variants
In addition to the alternative name Brautstein , numerous variants of the name Lehnekenstein have been handed down, namely Benekenstein , Leenkenstein , Lehnchenstein , Lehnkenstein , Lenchenstein , Leneckenstein , Lenekenstein and Lenekonstein .
location
The stone is located 2 km west of Bonese on the edge of a forest. There it stands on raised ground, not far from the highest point. In historical times it served as a boundary stone between the three places Bonese, Rustenbeck and Markau . In 1859 two paths led directly past the stone.
description
Originally the Lehnekenstein was surrounded by a circle of smaller stones with a radius of 2 m. In 1860 these were removed and used as building material. Some are said to have been used for the foundation of a brewery in Uelzen , others for the foundation of a farmhouse in Bonese, others for a sheepfold and for the Kreis- Chaussee . In 1882 two upright stones with a height of about 1 m were left of the stone circle. In 2006 there was only one stone left. This was carried away 19 m to the east and had wedge holes. It had a length of 90 cm and a width of 72 cm.
The Lehnekenstein consists of coarse-grained granite . Its total height is 290 cm, of which 220 cm protrude from the earth. The width is 150 cm and the depth 90 cm. It is cuboid and ends in a sloping point. It is badly weathered and has strongly rounded edges. Two bands created by weathering run diagonally across the stone.
Finds from the wider area around the menhir can only be generally assigned to the Neolithic . There were also several excavations directly on the stone, including 1918, but these did not yield any findings.
About 6 km to the north-east, a very similar structure stood near the Lehnekenberg near Dahrendorf until 1854 : the stone circle of Dahrendorf . This has now been completely removed; the relocated menhir by Kortenbeck may represent the last remainder of the complex.
The Lehnekenstein in regional legends
There are numerous legends about the menhir. The most extensive is about his name. According to this, there was once a farmer's wife in Bonese who had a son named Asmus and a daughter named Marlene (Maria Helene, nickname Lehnchen or Lehneken in Low German ). Asmus was a good-for-nothing and enjoyed tormenting people. Marlene, on the other hand, was beautiful, kind-hearted and God-fearing. She was coveted by all young men in the area, but she herself loved the hard-working and pious, but also poor servant from the neighboring farm. This love was mutual, but Marlene's family had other ideas. Her most stubborn suitor was the rich son of Schulzen from Markau. Mother and brother were very taken with this party and were already preparing for the wedding without letting Marlene's complaints soften them. In the end she swore that she would kill herself before she went to Markau as a bride, but she was laughed at for this. In the afternoon before the planned wedding day, she was finally solemnly dressed by bridesmaids , got into the bridal carriage and drove with a large entourage towards Markau. Shortly before sunset they reached the border between the two places. There the bridegroom's brother was waiting and, according to the custom, asked: “Who brought you here, you bride?” Marlene replied: “God and good people.” The bridegroom's brother then asked: “Does the bride want to go on or does she want her still turn back? Now there is still time. ”Weeping, she replied:“ I want to, I want to go again, I want to go to my mother's house! ”Her brother Asmus screamed angrily at her and urged the horses and their entourage to cross the border to Markau To exceed. In desperation, Marlene shouted: “I'd rather be turned to stone than to cross the Markau border!” She threw herself out of the car and turned to stone instantly. At the same moment the sun went down. On full moon nights you should still be able to see the bridal bands fluttering on the stone at midnight. The writer Wilhelm Meyer-Markau expanded this legend into an entire novel , which appeared in 1908 under the title And the thorns went up .
There are different versions of this legend. One says that the change was not made at Marlene's request, but as a punishment. According to another version, Marlene should not have changed, but fell on a stone. She later succumbed to her injuries and was buried in the cemetery. A third variant says that the bridal bands can be seen as red-brown stripes not only at night but also during the day and that a thick amber chain continues to hang around the neck of the stone. Furthermore, the stripes are said to be the bent arm and hand of the bride. In addition to Marlene, her bridesmaids are said to have been petrified. These formed your circle of smaller stones around the Lehnekenstein. The stone thus joins a group of monuments distributed over a larger room, which were regarded as petrified wedding parties. These include the large stone grave 1 in Liesten near Salzwedel , which was destroyed in the 19th century, but also the large stone graves of the Visbeker Bride and Visbeker Groom and the Glaner Braut group of graves in north-western Lower Saxony . Almost identical legends are also told about the nearby stone circle near Dahrendorf.
There are a number of other legends that revolve around the stone. It is supposed to bleed if you scrape it with the back of a knife at midnight. The stripes ("chains") should also shine golden. Furthermore, it is said to be haunted here at midnight. At lunchtime, however, the midday woman warms up here . According to another, somewhat more detailed, legend there is a golden cradle under the stone. If you want to rescue it, you mustn't say a word. Two men are said to have tried it once. Suddenly a hay wagon drove past them, pulled by a rooster. Amazed, they talked to each other, causing the almost excavated cradle to sink into the ground. The hay cart was gone too.
literature
- Johannes Groht : Menhirs in Germany. State Office for Monument Preservation and Archeology Saxony-Anhalt, Halle (Saale) 2013, ISBN 978-3-943904-18-5 , pp. 412, 446–448.
- Lothar Mittag : The Lehnekenstein near Bonese - a prehistoric menhir and the Lehnekenberg near Dahrendorf / Gröningen (Altmarkkreis Salzwedel). In: Hartmut Bock, Barbara Fritsch, Lothar Mittag: Großsteingraves der Altmark . State Office for Monument Preservation and Archeology Saxony-Anhalt and State Museum for Prehistory, Halle (Saale) 2006, ISBN 3-939414-03-4 , pp. 172–178.
- Lothar Mittag: legendary stones, large stone graves, special stones and stone crosses in the Altmark world of legends. Salzwedel 2006, p. 46ff.
- Johannes Schneider : Soil monuments of the Magdeburg district. In: Annual publication for Central German prehistory. Volume 69, 1986, p. 118.
- Waldtraut Schrickel : Western European elements in the Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age of Central Germany. Part I. Catalog. Publications of the State Museum for Prehistory Dresden, Volume 5, VEB Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig 1957, pp. 65–66.
- Britta Schulze-Thulin : Large stone graves and menhirs. Saxony-Anhalt • Thuringia • Saxony . Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle (Saale) 2007, pp. 40–41.
- Jodocus Donatus Hubertus Temme : The folk tales of the Altmark. With an appendix of legends from the other brands and from Magdeburg. Nicolaische Buchhandlung, Berlin 1839, pp. 39–41 ( online ).
- Our Altmark. No. 7, May 16, 1920.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Johannes Groht: Menhirs in Germany. P. 446.
- ↑ a b c Waldtraut Schrickel: Western European elements in the Neolithic and in the early Bronze Age of Central Germany. Part I. Catalog. P. 66.
- ↑ Jodocus Donatus Hubertus Temme: The folk tales of the Altmark. 1839, pp. 39-41
- ↑ a b Johannes Groht: Menhirs in Germany. P. 446.