Nikolsdorfer walls

The Nikolsdorfer Walls are a rock area in Saxon Switzerland . They are located south of the eponymous town of Nikolsdorf , a district of Königstein (Saxon Switzerland) and reach a maximum height of 398 meters.

Geology and location

The Nikolsdorfer Walls west of Nikolsdorf on a map from 1821/1822

The Nikolsdorf walls were created from a larger sandstone slab between the towns of Leupoldishain , Nikolsdorf and Langenhennersdorf , which can be assigned to the Postelwitz formation in the Middle Turon. According to the original petrographic-morphological classification by Friedrich Lamprecht, they belong to the horizon of the sandstone stage c3 of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains. Only at the Bernhardstein , which adjoins the mountain to the south and reaches up to 425 meters, is the horizon d of the Schrammstein formation placed on top of it.

Also part of the sandstone slab is the neighboring Breite Heide to the west , a forest area interspersed with sandstone cliffs and individual walls. It is separated from the Nikolsdorfer Walls by the wide valley of the Dürren Grund. To the south, between Nikolsdorf walls and Bernhardstein lies the rock group of the labyrinth .

Climbing area

According to the number of climbing destinations, the Nikolsdorfer Walls are one of the smallest areas in the Saxon Switzerland climbing area . The total of 12 peaks not only includes the climbing rocks directly on the walls, but also individual peaks near the labyrinth, in the Breiten Heide or on the Spanghorn, located northeast of Nikolsdorf. Most of the peaks in the Nikolsdorfer Walls are less significant and are mostly classified as quack by mountaineers .

Mining consequences

View of shaft 398 (sinking headframe) of the SDAG Wismut south of the Breiten Heide (photo 2012, the shaft was dismantled in 2013)

North and south of Nikolsdorf and Leupoldishain the opened up Wismut 1963 the uranium ore reserves of deposit Koenigstein . The 7.1 km² large mine field extended completely below the Nikolsdorf walls. In the area of the walls, two day shafts (shaft 398 in the south of the Breiten Heide approx. 400 meters west of the labyrinth, shaft 387 on the eastern edge of the walls approx. 1 km south of Nikolsdorf) as well as four weather boreholes (boreholes No. 1, 3, 4, 7) brought down. The uranium mining affected the Nikolsdorf walls in several ways.

The waste rock produced during mining was dumped on spoil heaps . In order to avoid conspicuous heaps in the field of vision of the Königstein Fortress , which is very popular with tourists , the Wismut chose inconspicuous heaps and filled various side valleys. In 1966 such a dump was created in the area of the Nikolsdorfer walls and the Wolfsgrund, a side valley running west into the walls, was filled. The Wolfsgrundwächter fell victim to this, a climbing rock that was first climbed in 1912. In 1997 a memorial plaque was attached to the still visible summit head of the rock by the Wismut and the Saxon Mountaineering Association .

Another mountain series was the closure of the Leupoldishain natural stage. This open-air theater was only created in 1958 by the residents themselves as part of the GDR's national structure . It lay in Bärs Grund, a rocky bed that cut into the area of the walls from the north. The stage offered 1,200 spectators. As early as 1965, the stage had to cease operations due to safety concerns at Wismut, and the rows of seats were dismantled. Since 2011, the area of the former open-air theater has occasionally been used for events.

With the turnaround, uranium mining was stopped in 1990. The daytime facilities in the area of shaft 387 have now been completely dismantled and the site renovated. The dismantling and renovation work on shaft 398 is still ongoing (as of December 2013). The shaft structure was dismantled here in 2013.

Individual evidence

^ Lithostratigraphic units of Germany. Postelwitz formation. In: Lithostratigrafisches Lexikon Deutschlands. April 17, 2008 ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 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. (accessed on December 23, 2013) @1@ 2

↑ ^a ^b Gerhard Engelmann: In the south of the Barbarine (= values of the German homeland . Volume 3). 2nd Edition. Akademie Verlag, Berlin 1960, p. 16.

^ Units of Germany. Schrammstein formation. In: Lithostratigrafisches Lexikon Deutschlands. April 17, 2008 ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 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. (accessed December 23, 2013). @1@ 2

↑ Dietmar Heinicke (Ed.): Climbing Guide Saxon Switzerland. Berg- & Naturverlag Rölke, volume 3, area of stones . Dresden 2001, ISBN 3-934514-03-0 , p. 127 ff.

↑ History of the Wolf Grundwächter on a plaque on the rock remnant , accessed on December 25, 2013

↑ SBB newsletter Der Neue Sächsische Bergsteiger , Issue 3, September 2012, p. 37

^ History of the natural stage in Leupoldishain