Schlangenberg (Stolberg)
The Schlangenberg is a 276 meter high hill in the immediate vicinity of the Breinigerberg district that belongs to Stolberg . It was one of the centers of calamine mining in the region in the 18th and 19th centuries . Today the nature reserve surrounding the hill is called the Schlangenberg nature reserve .
geology
The Schlangenberg consists predominantly of Devonian limestone . The material was deposited around 400 million years ago and surfaced 200 million years later. It was subject to erosion and ores containing heavy metals penetrated the limestone. Zinc blende , marcasite and galena were created as primary ores. In a subsequent process, the secondary ore calamine , which was found in thick layers on the Schlangenberg, developed from this .
history
The richness of the galley on the Schlangenberg made the hill and the surrounding area a preferred mining area in the 18th and 19th centuries. The copper masters of Stolbergs used calamine in addition to copper , which came mainly from mining areas in the Harz , to extract brass . In the first few years, the dismantling took place above ground, but with increasing mechanization it was relocated underground. For this reason the Schlangenberg was pierced by a large number of tunnels and shafts. Today these have expired and are no longer accessible.
Memorials
cross
The oldest memorial on the Schlangenberg is a cross. The memorial was erected on the top of the hill in 1887 and commemorates the painful death of a four-year-old boy who died in a household accident in the neighboring town. When the cross had to give way to another memorial in 1921, the population re-attached it halfway up. The weathered cross, originally made of wood, has since been replaced by a metal cross made of white painted steel.
Memorial for war victims
On October 30, 1921, the residents of Breinigerberg erected a memorial for the victims of the First World War on the top of the Schlangenberg. After the end of the Second World War , the memorial site was expanded to include the victims of the new war and in future it was dedicated to the victims of both world wars.
In 1981 the badly damaged monument was restored by members of the local “Rooster Society” association.
Memorial for World War Victims
Cross on the Schlangenberg
Flora and fauna
The snake mountain and the surrounding, mostly forested areas show a rare calamine flora . So here you can find the calamine milk , the calamine carnation and the calamine pocket herb as spring bloomer .
The Schlangenberg is known for its abundance of butterflies.
literature
- Information sheet from the Schlangenberg information center.
- Festschrift Hahnengesellschaft 1933–2008.
- Breiniger Heimatblätter, Volume 12, The Schlangenberg Nature Reserve , Eifel and Heimatverein Breinig (ed.), ISBN 978-3-941704-42-8
Web links
- Nature reserve "Schlangenberg (Stolberg)" (ACK-011) in the specialist information system of the State Office for Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection in North Rhine-Westphalia
- Schlangenberg information center - nature on the dump
Coordinates: 50 ° 44 ′ 13.5 " N , 6 ° 14 ′ 36.3" E