Sheep stone

Sheep stone
	View from the southeast
height	831.8 m above sea level NHN
location	at desert saxons ; District of Fulda , Hessen ( Germany )
Mountains	Rhön (High Rhön)
Coordinates	50 ° 30 '8 " N , 9 ° 58' 28" E Coordinates: 50 ° 30 '8 " N , 9 ° 58' 28" E
particularities	Block heaps

View from the north

View from the west

Winter on the Schafstein

The Schafstein is 831.8 m above sea level. NHN high mountain in the Rhön near Wüstensachsen in the Hessian district of Fulda ( Germany ).

geography

location

As part of the Hohe Rhön , the Schafstein rises both in the Hessian Rhön Nature Park and in the Rhön Biosphere Reserve . The summit of the mountain in the district of Ehrenberg is 2.1 km west of the main town Wüstensachsen and 2.1 km south-southeast of the Reulbach district and 3.2 km northeast of the Gersfeld district of Obernhausen . The Wasserkuppe rises 2.7 km to the west-southwest. The Schafstein can be reached on foot in around an hour from the parking spaces there.

Natural allocation

The sheep stone belongs to the natural spatial main unit group Osthessisches Bergland (No. 35), in the main unit Hohe Rhön (354) and in the subunit Central Rhön (354.1) to the natural area Wasserkuppenrhön (354.10).

Flowing waters

On the transition area to the Wasserkuppe lies the Grumbachborn , which feeds the Ulster tributary Grumbach, which runs south past the Schafstein . This is also where the Reulbach rises and flows west past the mountain to and through Reulbach to the Brandbach . On the northwest flank of the mountain lies the Schafsteiner Brunnen , whose trickle feeds the Reulbach.

nature

Block heaps

On the mostly very steep mountain slopes of the Schafstein there are countless, wildly jumbled and often quite large chunks of basalt . On the north and east sides of the mountain, they form two up to 30 m thick block heaps , which together cover an area of 3.6 hectares. They are up to 240 m long and 100 m wide. They are fossil rock glaciers . Here the ice, which makes up half the volume of an active rock glacier in motion, has already melted. The ramparts in the lower area of the block heaps on the Schafstein are typical features of a fossil rock glacier, as are the tree islands in closed hollows that were created by the melting of ice lenses in the subsurface. The special climatic conditions, which are often associated with a block pile, are remarkable. In summer, a cold air lake forms at the foot of the slope , while in winter warm air can be detected at its upper end.

flora

The Schafstein has a remarkably jungle-like deciduous tree population, predominantly beech and hardwood . In addition, rare plants such as Märzenbecher , Bärlapp , spotted orchid and Turk's Association thrive .

Protected areas

The Schafstein nature reserve near Wüstensachsen ( CDDA no. 165354; designated in 1966; 1.2361 km² in size) as well as parts of the Hessian Rhön landscape protection areas (CDDA no. 378477; 1967; 410.3172 km²) and on the south-western part are located on the Schafstein , Hohe Rhön (CDDA no. 378482; 1997; 44.2082 km²). In addition, parts of the fauna-flora-habitat area Hochrhön (FFH no. 5525-351; 48.0962 km²) and the bird sanctuary Hessische Rhön (VSG no. 5425-401; 360.8013 km²) are located on it.