Menhir of Kelbra

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The Kelbra menhir (also called Heidenstein ) was a prehistoric menhir near Kelbra (Kyffhäuser) in the district of Mansfeld-Südharz , Saxony-Anhalt .

location

The stone was about 50 m outside of Kelbra on the way to Sondershausen in a field. There were originally several other stones in the vicinity, for which names have been passed down, but it is not certain whether they are to be classified as menhirs. Older literature also mentions a stone near Badra which, according to Waldtraut Schrickel, could be identical to the Kelbra menhir, since Badra is on the way from Kelbra to Sondershausen.

description

The menhir was made of red sandstone and was as wide at the top as it was below. It was 10 feet tall, 5 feet wide, and 1.5 feet thick

Finds from the area around the menhir date from the full bronze age and the Middle Ages .

The menhir in regional sagas

There is a legend about the stone: A giantess named Frau Hüne either went for a walk or was on her way to Kelbra to buy red shoes at the market. When she got too warm, she sat down to rest. Because the shoe pinched her, she took it off. In the process, a stone fell out that was so big that only a large car could carry it away.

literature

  • Hans-Jürgen Beier : The megalithic, submegalithic and pseudomegalithic buildings as well as the menhirs between the Baltic Sea and the Thuringian Forest. Contributions to the prehistory and early history of Central Europe 1. Wilkau-Haßlau 1991, p. 70.
  • A. Berg: The long stone or stone of gods from Seehausen near Magdeburg. In: Germania. 1933, p. 214.
  • AA Bergner: Collected contributions to German antiquities. Some news about the Heidensteine. In: Saxon Association for the Research of patriotic antiquities in Leipzig (ed.): Contributions to German antiquity. Volume I. Leipzig 1876, p. 117.
  • Alfred Götze , Paul Höfer , Paul Zschiesche: The prehistoric and early historical antiquities of Thuringia. Kabitzsch, Würzburg 1909, p. 40 ( online ).
  • Christian Keferstein : Views on Celtic antiquities, the Celts in general and especially in Germany. Volume I, Halle 1846, pp. 42-43 ( online ).
  • Horst Kirchner : The menhirs in Central Europe and the menhir thought (= Academy of Sciences and Literature. Treatises of the humanities and social sciences class. Born 1955, No. 9). Wiesbaden 1955, p. 182.
  • 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, p. 45.