Monk (rock)
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The Mönch (also Mönchstein ) is a rock tower and popular climbing peak in Saxon Switzerland near Rathen . The weather vane in the shape of a tinny monk attached to the summit is visible from afar and is used for orientation.
Naming
The origin of the name "monk" is unknown. On the map series of the First Electoral Saxon Land Recording created by Matthias Oeder in 1592, only one “guard house” of the former Neurathen Castle is recorded. The current name is mentioned for the first time in 1755. Wilhelm Leberecht Götzinger suspected the origin of the name in the appearance of the rock, which from the east has a little resemblance to a monk. "Camel" was also used as an alternative name in the 19th century, in this case due to the view from the banks of the Elbe , which is supposed to resemble a camel's hump . Due to the proximity to the nun on the other side of the Elbe, there are also legends about the naming of both rocks.
history
In the Middle Ages, the rock was part of the Neurathen Castle as a lookout due to its striking location. The “Mönchsloch”, about 1.75 meters high and 1.35 meters deep, carved into the rock just below the summit and used by the castle's guards, dates from this period. The rock castle was destroyed in 1469 and then fell into disrepair. With this, the medieval access to the Mönch, still recognizable by the bar folds, disappeared. Since then, the summit can only be reached by climbing .
Occasionally the rock was still climbed, ascents from the years 1632, 1777 and 1803 are recorded. After gymnasts from Bad Schandau am Falkenstein had climbed the summit for the first time for sporting reasons in 1864 , this was followed ten years later in 1874 by O. Ufer and H. Frick the first ascent of the monk for the same motives. For the first time in Saxon Switzerland, a climbing peak was climbed without artificial aids, after ladders and artificially struck steps had previously been used. The waiver of artificial aids is still an essential point of the currently valid Saxon climbing rules .
The south-east path used by Ufer and Frick ( Saxon difficulty level III) is still a popular climbing path . Since the first athletic ascent of the Mönch, a large number of other climbing routes have been developed. Well-known mountaineers such as Oscar Schuster , Rudolf Fehrmann , Emanuel Strubich or Bernd Arnold first climbed climbing paths on the Mönch. The most difficult climbs in the north face reach difficulties in the upper Saxon tenth degree.
In 1887, as was the case on other peaks in those years, a weather vane in the form of the sheet metal silhouette of a monk was attached to the Mönch. While most of the weather vanes and summit signs were destroyed or dismantled again in the coming decades, the weather vane on the Mönch was one of the few signs in Saxon Switzerland that remained. However, after being damaged in 1928 and 1930, the original figure was replaced by a faithful replica in 1957. The original monk from 1887 has since been on display in the museum in Bad Schandau .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hans Pankotsch, Dietmar Heinicke: The names of our climbing peaks . Saxon Mountaineering Association, Dresden 2013, p. 97
literature
- Peter Rölke (Ed.): Hiking & Nature Guide Saxon Switzerland. Volume 2, Verlag Rölke, Dresden 2000, ISBN 3-934514-09-X
Web links
Coordinates: 50 ° 58 ' N , 14 ° 5' E