Riesenstein (Heiligenberg)

Giant stone from Heiligenberg

The giant stone from Heiligenberg , also called the giant stone from Heimarshausen , is a massive sandstone rock in the district of Heimarshausen in the northern Hessian district of Kassel . The rock is around nine meters high, white and red, criss-crossed with quartz veins and severely split and fissured due to the effects of weathering.

The giant stone and its immediate surroundings are protected as a natural monument (6.33.528) (see list of natural monuments in Naumburg (Hesse) ).

Geographical location

The giant stone is located in the southwest part of the Habichtswald Nature Park around 1.5 km north of Heimarshausen , a south-southeast part of Naumburg . It is located on the plateau-like crest of the Ziegenrück ( 318.2  m above sea  level ), the southeastern branch of the Heiligenberg ( 380  m above sea level ) in the "Old Forest" .

history

In the main rock there is a shell-like geomantic trough with a drain. Heavily weathered rock carvings of animals can be found near the hollow. In the column at the head of the stone you can see the sun rise at the solstice on December 21st .

In the 19th century, a wooden bridge was built on the Riesenstein, of which only the inlets of the support beams in the sandstone of the Riesenstein and the Heiligenberg or the Ziegenrück are visible.

In addition, a small, non-accessible sandstone room was let in in the immediate vicinity of the giant stone.

In literary terms, the giant stone was treated in the poem about the giant stone by the local poet Georg Leithäuser .

legend

The giant Goliath hurled the giant stone to destroy the Weidelsburg (near Wolfhagen -Ippinghausen). The stone slipped off his little finger and missed his target, and the giant shed bloody tears because he had lost his reputation as a castle conqueror. He sat on the giant stone, forgot to eat and drink out of grief, and then died. You can still see the depression where the giant sat after his mistake.

literature

Commons : Riesenstein  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Eduard Brauns: Hiking and travel guide through North Hesse and Waldeck. A. Bernecker, Melsungen 1971, p. 103.
• Georg Leithäuser: Poem about the giant stone. Plaque in the sandstone room at the giant stone, undated

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Map services ( Memento of the original from December 19, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. of the BfN 
2. ↑ Eduard Brauns: Hiking and travel guide through North Hesse and Waldeck. A. Bernecker, Melsungen 1971, p. 103
3. ↑ Eduard Brauns: Hiking and travel guide through North Hesse and Waldeck. A. Bernecker, Melsungen 1971, p. 103

Coordinates: 51 ° 11 ′ 48.2 "  N , 9 ° 12 ′ 42.7"  E