Pyramid in Rapa
The pyramid in Rapa ( Polish: Piramida w Rapie ), also known as the mausoleum in the Luschnitz , is a tomb of the East Prussian noble family von Fahrenheid near the Polish village of Rapa (German Angerapp , 1938 to 1945 Kleinangerapp ) in the municipality of Banie Mazurskie (German Benkheim ).
Location and surroundings
The structure is located in a marshland called Rysie Bagno ( Luschnitz ) on the north-eastern edge of the Lasy Skaliskie ( Skallischer Forst , 1938 to 1945 Altheider Forest ). A few hundred meters north of the site Rapa, who until 1945 is circular Darkehmen (1938 county Angerapp 1939 to 1945 County Angerapp belonged). Since the division of East Prussia after the Second World War , the district town, renamed in 1946 in Osjorsk ( Russian Озёрск for "city on the lake" ), and a large part of the former district in the Russian Oblast of Kaliningrad, has been located . Some southern places in the district were assigned to Polish communities, including Rapa.
Building
The mausoleum planned by the Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen was modeled on the pyramids of Ancient Egypt , but does not correspond to their typical shape. The foundation of the 15.9 meter high pyramid in Rapa has the shape of a square with sides each 10.4 m long. The angle of inclination of the outer walls is therefore 68 ° to 70 °. The inclination angle of the ceiling inside of 51 ° 52 ′, on the other hand, corresponds to that of ancient models.
The pyramid in Rapa is said to have supernatural powers, which is mainly due to the mummification of those buried there. The Polish radiesthesist Leszek Matela published an article in 1994 in the magazine Nie z tej ziemi (German Not from this earth ), according to which the pyramid lies on a so-called ley line . This is proceeding from the former Viking -Zentrum Birka in Sweden on Rapa, the Orthodox places of worship of Poland (Grabarka and Jabłeczna) and Romania (including the monastery Voroneţ ), neolithic buildings in Bulgaria (Madara and Bolgarska Polyana) and ancient cities in Turkey ( Xanthos and Hierapolis ) to the pyramids of Giza . The force field of the ley line is reinforced by the pyramid shape of the tomb, negative energy is inhibited by the foundation made of field stones.
history
In 1773, for unknown reasons, Johann Friedrich Wilhelm von Fahrenheid took over the Angerapp estate from a Hoffmann family. In 1793 Friedrich Wilhelm Johann von Fahrenheid (1747–1834), who was raised to the Prussian nobility by King Friedrich Wilhelm II in 1786 , acquired a large complex of goods in Klein Beynuhnen, five kilometers away (1938 to 1945 Kleinbeinuhnen , since 1946 Russian Ульяновское , Uljanowskoe ) . His son Friedrich Heinrich Johann von Fahrenheid (1780–1849) brought the estate to an economic boom, expanded thoroughbred breeding into what was then the second largest private stud in Europe and thus laid the material foundation for the family's artistic ambitions. Fahrenheid, who studied at the Albertina in Königsberg , discovered his passion for Egyptology, which is particularly popular in France, while traveling through Europe . He was involved as a collector and art patron .
After the death of his only three-year-old daughter Ninette, Friedrich Heinrich Johann von Fahrenheid had the family grave built in 1811 at the end of a dam in the swampy Luschnitz forest. Another source speaks of 1795 as the year of construction and of Friedrich Wilhelm Johann von Fahrenheid as the builder and his three-year-old granddaughter who died on December 30, 1811 and who was the first to be buried there. Steinhauer from Königsberg carried out the construction work. It is said that there were sculptures along the entire length of the dam between the street and the mausoleum. Other family members were later buried in the pyramid, including Friedrich Heinrich Johann von Fahrenheid, who died in 1849.
He had ordered that his assets would be used for art collections. His heir, Fritz von Fahrenheid (1815–1888), had a large castle built in Klein Beynuhnen for their storage and presentation. The castle was blown up in 1945 by the Red Army , and the collections were requisitioned by the Soviet trophy commissions if they were not destroyed. Its whereabouts are largely unknown. What has been preserved in Klein Beynuhnen is an imposing, now decaying brick barn, a gardener's house and a few farm buildings. There are said to be two grave slabs in the former park, one of them with the Fahrheid coat of arms. Fritz von Fahrenheid was also buried there.
In the two world wars, the mausoleum in the Luschnitz was devastated by Russian and Soviet soldiers and the coffins were opened. The resting place, hidden in the forest, survived the post-war period in neglect. The mummified bodies were visible through the windows . In the 1990s, the Polish authorities placed the building under monument protection. Several major renovations have taken place since then. The entrance was walled up, the window grilles put back in and the coffins locked. The pyramid dam has also been renewed in the meantime.
See also
literature
- Kamila Storz: Mausoleum in Angerapp. Unraveling a pyramid. In: Jahrbuch Preußenland 8, 2017. pp. 158–168.
Web links
- Pyramid in Rapa. Facts and myths on PolenJournal.de
- Rapa - Klein Angerapp on Ostpreußen.net
- The pyramid of Rapa (Kleinangerapp) on lostplaces - forgotten places
Individual evidence
- ↑ Słownik węgoborski (Polish) ( Memento of 23 August 2010 at the Internet Archive ) ( Dictionary of the former węgorzewo county ). As of September 8, 2010.
- ↑ Leszek Matela: The ancient art of geomancy [1] As of November 14, 2013.
- ↑ Stanisław Sieminski: Mazury. Well-known and yet unknown country . Kętrzyn 2006, ISBN 83-918458-4-2 , p. 184-185 .
- ↑ Ostpreußen.net: Vorwerk Bischunen or Angerapp State 14th September, 2010.
- ↑ a b Ostpreußen.net: The castle in Klein Beynuhnen as of September 8, 2010.
- ↑ Robert Dethloff: Pyramid in Rapa - facts and myths . In: Poland Journal . ( polenjournal.de [accessed October 12, 2018]).
- ↑ Robert Dethloff: Pyramid in Rapa - facts and myths . In: Poland Journal . ( polenjournal.de [accessed October 12, 2018]).
- ↑ lostplaces: The Pyradimde of Rapa (Kleinangerapp) as of September 8, 2010.
Coordinates: 54 ° 18 ′ 36 ″ N , 22 ° 1 ′ 18 ″ E