Giant Stone (Wolfershausen)
| Giant stone | |||
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 The giant stone from the north |
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| Coordinates | 51 ° 11 '34.1 " N , 9 ° 26' 39" E | ||
| place | Wolfershausen , Hessen , Germany | ||
| Emergence | 3rd millennium BC Chr | ||
| Dimensions | 4 m high | ||
The giant stone of Wolfershausen is a megalith on the northern bank of the Eder in the Felsberg district of Wolfershausen in the north Hessian Schwalm-Eder district . Among the menhirs in the Kassel - Fritzlar area, the giant stone from Wolfershausen is the largest. It is under nature protection as a natural monument .
geology
The tertiary quartzite plate has a height and width of four meters, is 1 meter thick and weighs about 25 tons. The stone is 65 million years old and was formed at the end of the Cretaceous Period . Its surroundings are littered with volcanic ash , lapilli and blocks of quartzite. The accumulation of quartzite blocks suggests that the menhir was not transported over a longer distance to its current location, but that it was transported to the surface of the earth as igneous matter from the earth's interior by a volcanic dome in the immediate vicinity of its current location .
history
The menhir was made in the 3rd millennium BC. Used as a place of worship by a peasant group from the Neolithic Age : during archaeological excavations, human bones from the Neolithic were discovered on its foot . In the Middle Ages the menhir was said to have a healing and fertility-giving effect. In 1615 it was mentioned as the Großer Stein .
legend
The popular story of a giant's stone throwing is also told about the Wolfershausen menhir. The giant Lothar, who lived on the nearby Lotterberg, hurled the stone after the fleeing giant Kunibert, who had tried to kidnap Lothar's beloved Nagate to the Heiligenberg . The stone got stuck in Lothar's sleeve and hit a field north of the Eder.
See also
- List of natural monuments in the Schwalm-Eder district (including "Dicker Stein")
literature
- August Boley: Local calendar of the district of Kassel. Kassel 1950, p. 22 ff.
- Eduard Brauns: Hiking and travel guide through North Hesse and Waldeck. A. Bernecker Verlag, Melsungen 1971, p. 270.
- Karl E. Demandt: History of the State of Hesse. Johannes Stauda Verlag, Kassel 1980, p. 45.
- Johannes Groht: Menhirs in Germany. State Office for Monument Preservation and Archeology Saxony-Anhalt, Halle (Saale) 2013, ISBN 978-3-943904-18-5 , p. 155.
- Irene Kappel: Stone chamber graves and menhirs in Northern Hesse. Schanze, Kassel 1978, p. 61.
Web links
- History of Wolfershausen
- The giant stone on the site of the city of Felsberg
- The giant stone on Grosssteingraeber.de