Rayon stone

Rayonstein at the Verdun Fortress

Rayon stone no. 40 near the Loyasse fortress near Lyon

Rayon stones are boundary stones of the former fortress paleons around cities. The word "rayon" comes from French and means something like radius or area. With these boundary stones different areas of a fort were marked out. The setting of the rayon stones of a fortress was also called "stone setting".

Legal use

In the law on the restrictions on property in the vicinity of fortresses of the German Empire of December 21, 1871, § 8 stipulates: "When new fortifications are built, the [...] rayons [...] are marked out and marked with fixed marks (rayon stones ) designated."

Todays situation

Due to forest work, rebuilding or theft, such stones are rarely found today. The remaining stones are mostly sunk into the ground. The approximate dimensions of a rayon stone are 20 cm × 20 cm × 80 cm. For example, over 1200 rayon stones were found in the vicinity of Fortress Cologne .

literature

• Collection of all printed matter of the German Reichstag, Volume 1, p. 3, 1871

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Law on Restrictions on Real Estate Around Fortresses . Text of the law for the German Reich on Wikisource
2. ^ Project to research the military boundary stones of the Cologne Fortress 1870-1918 Information page on the website of the Institute for Fortress Architecture, accessed on November 15, 2012