Knight stone
Marks made of sandstone are referred to as knight stones , which in the Palatinate Forest , a low mountain range in Rhineland-Palatinate , indicate with carved inscriptions to historically or naturally remarkable locations. In some cases, boulders were set up specifically for this purpose , and in some cases existing rocks or walls were used to attach the information.
Characteristics of the knight stones are a short text together with the abbreviation “PWV” for the Palatinate Forest Association , which sets up and looks after the stones. They are named after forest director Karl Albrecht von Ritter (1836–1917), the founding chairman of the PWV, who made outstanding contributions to the installation at the beginning of the 20th century.
The list of knight stones contains basic information.
history
In 1908, the PWV followed Daniel Häberle's suggestion to set up stone marks in the Palatinate Forest to mark remarkable locations. Because forest director von Ritter promoted the project and suggested most of the locations, the general assembly of the PWV decided in 1912 to name the stones after him "Rittersteine".
By 1914, over 200 knight stones had been erected as "stone historiography of the Palatinate Forest". In 1916 a printed directory with 144 locations appeared for the first time.
In view of the economic problems after the First World War , the knight stones fell into oblivion. From 1930 to 1950 Emil Ohler († 1959) tried to find the old stone brands and - including newly added stones - to compile an updated list. In 1954, Ohler received the Federal Cross of Merit on ribbon .
After Ohler's death, Karl Becker continued the work until 1966, when memories threatened to fade again. That is why the PWV commissioned the local history researcher Walter Eitelmann (1922–2009) to collect all available knowledge about knight stones and the objects and events they marked and to keep them from being completely forgotten. Until 1972, Eitelmann was out on foot in the Palatinate Forest to look for objects, to restore them and to interview local witnesses. The result of Eitelmann's work was the book Knight Stones in the Palatinate Forest , in which the ascertained knowledge about each individual knight stone is compiled and which is now available in its 5th edition. The book divides the stone brands according to the following criteria:
- Landmarks
- Lost settlements
- Theaters of war and entrenchments , incidents and legends
- Timber and timber floating
- Forestry and hunting operations
- Livestock farming and wolf plague
- Industries in the Palatinate Forest
- Honors of personalities
In the 1990s, Erhard Rohe (deceased in 2012), appointed the first full-time managing director of the PWV in 1980, took over the care of the knight stones, since 2000 Klaus Frölich from Kaiserslautern, who was deputy chairman of the Palatinate Forest Association from 2003 to 2012. Every year the Palatinate Forest Association invests up to € 5,000 in the care and maintenance of its "stone historiography".
maintenance
Today, depending on the source, there are 306 or 307 knight stones. Erhard Rohe names five other stones that have disappeared during various construction measures. New setups are not planned due to the cost of maintenance. Most of the locations are shown in current hiking maps.
literature
- Walter Eitelmann, Ernst Kimmel: Knight stones in the Palatinate Forest . With 59 hiking suggestions. 5th edition. Palatinate Forest Association, Neustadt an der Weinstrasse. 2005, ISBN 3-00-003544-3 .
- State Office for Surveying and Basic Geographic Information Rhineland-Palatinate: Palatinate Forest Nature Park . Topographic map 1: 25,000. ISBN 978-3-89637-399-1 .
- Erhard Rohe: The knight stones in the Palatinate Forest . In: Palatinate Forest Association (Hrsg.): 100 years of the Palatinate Forest Association . Neustadt an der Weinstr. 2002, ISBN 3-00-010517-4 , pp. 168 ff .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Pfälzerwald-Verein Otterberg: Rittersteine. Retrieved March 1, 2011 .
- ↑ a b c Palatinate Forest Association Frankfurt: From the history of the Palatinate Forest Association. Archived from the original on December 15, 2004 ; Retrieved March 1, 2011 .
- ↑ a b Erhard Rohe: The knight stones in the Palatinate Forest . 2002, p. 168-173 .
- ↑ Topographic map of the Palatinate Forest Nature Park