Panská skála
Panská skála (German: Herrnhausfelsen or Herrenhausfelsen , also varhany - organs ) is a natural monument in the Prácheň (Parchen) district of Kamenický Šenov (Steinschönau) in the Czech Republic . The top of the basalt elevation, which is about 30 meters high today, is 597 meters above sea level and consists of vertical and slightly inclined, but very regularly arranged columns of up to 12 meters in length, with a diameter of 20 to 40 centimeters. The columnar basalt was created in the Tertiary through volcanic processes. At the foot of the Panská Skála there is a small lake that is fed by rainwater.
History of the natural monument
The text accompanying a Josephine map from 1780 refers to the hill as the Herr-Haus, on which there are three creutzes [...] pointed and composed of naturally angular and hard stones . Until the twentieth century, the Panská Skála was used as a quarry for building walls and roads; in a topography from 1787 it is mentioned as follows:
- The Herrnhausberg near Steinschönau is remarkable; it is about 600 steps in circumference and 30 fathoms in height and is composed of nothing but black basalt columns. These stones are up to 20 and more cubits long, 1 to 1 1/4 wide, have 4 to 8 smooth, and like planed sides stand close together, protrude like organ pipes from the earth, can be broken without effort and are closed with good success all kinds of masonry and vaults were used.
Towards the end of the 19th century (1878), efforts by the North Bohemian Excursions Club , the oldest tourist association in Austria-Hungary, achieved that the quarry - the quarry was in private hands - was limited to the side walls and underground columns and the summit was spared the rock continued to lose mass. An attempted purchase of the Herrnhausfelsen by the public sector in 1900 failed due to demands for money of around 160,000 kroner, so a local initiative was formed from several organizations and corporations that were able to lease at least the most exposed area of the basalt dome for six years and thus protect it from mining . The rent was 800 crowns a year. Extensive fundraising campaigns should enable the knoll to be bought later.
In 1914, the Herrnhausfelsen was bought by the Böhmisch-Kamnitz district , placed under nature protection, and rock mining on the formation itself was forbidden. After the Second World War, the Czechoslovak government renewed the ban in 1948 and declared the Panská Skála to be protected state property in 1953.
Naming and legends
Because of the three crosses on the summit, the Herrnhausfelsen was also called the Kreuzberg . As the hills long grass and earth was covered and only a few columns like "horns" sticking out, the name was Horned , later hearing house , which ultimately mansion was. The Czech name Pánska Skala means Herrenfelsen . An old legend, on the other hand, tells of a little castle that stood on the hill and was inhabited by a tough, evil gentleman and his benevolent wife. After a few murderous acts, the lord of the castle sold his soul to the devil and finally killed his wife. The castle then went up in flames on a stormy night and was swallowed up by the earth - the torn abyss revealed the black pillars the next day.
Web links
- Panská skála on www.luzicke-hory.cz
Individual evidence
- ↑ J. Valečka (ed.): Geologická mapa CR, 02-24 List Novy Bor . Praha (ČGU) 1998, signature 18
Coordinates: 50 ° 46 ′ 9.8 ″ N , 14 ° 29 ′ 6.7 ″ E