Stone virgin

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Stone virgin Dölauer Jungfrau, Heidenstein, Langer Stein
The menhir "Stone Virgin" in Halle-Dölau

The menhir "Stone Virgin" in Halle-Dölau
Stone Jungfrau (Saxony-Anhalt)
Red pog.svg
Coordinates 51 ° 31 '9 "  N , 11 ° 52' 46"  E Coordinates: 51 ° 31 '9 "  N , 11 ° 52' 46"  E
place Halle (Saale) , Saxony-Anhalt , Germany

The Stone Virgin (alternatively Dölauer Virgin , Heidenstein or long stone called) is a prehistoric menhir in Dölau , a district of Halle (Saale) in Saxony-Anhalt , m with a height of about 5.5 is after Gollenstein at Blieskastel in Saarland is the second largest menhir in Central Europe . The stone virgin is registered in the local monument register as a ground monument.

location

The stone is located on the northern outskirts of Dölau on the gently sloping south-east slope of an elevation. It can be reached via the Jungfrauenweg branching off from Neuragoczystraße and has an information board. In the immediate vicinity of the stone there is the allotment garden Steinerne Jungfrau, which is named after the menhir.

There are numerous other prehistoric sites in the vicinity. To the south-east in the Dölauer Heide there are 36 burial mounds , a Neolithic settlement on the Bischofswiese and the stone box at Waldkater . 3 km to the northeast is the Morl menhir . Further burial mounds are located east-northeast near Morl and north near Brachwitz.

description

The stone virgin with fallen fragments in the foreground

The menhir consists of gray-white brown coal quartzite , which is mostly dark gray to black discolored due to pollution. It has an approximately C-shaped cross section and a very rugged surface. In addition, a clearly visible crack goes through the stone. Its width is 2.6 m and its depth 1.55 m. There are different details about the height. Waldtraut Schrickel stated 5.8 m in 1957, whereas in more recent literature, e.g. Bodo Wernhörner / Ralf Schwarz or Britta Schulze-Thulin , only 5.5 m are stated. Originally it was probably even higher. Christian Keferstein assumed an original height of 25 feet (about 8 m) in 1846 . Fragments lying around show that parts of the menhir have repeatedly broken off due to weathering. This was last the case in 1890. However, since Johann Christoph von Dreyhaupt's indication of the height of 8.5 cubits in 1755 roughly coincides with today's height, fragments only seem to have broken off from the sides of the menhir in recent centuries. The breaks from its peak occurred in the time before the first written mentions and its original height cannot be determined with certainty.

It is unclear whether the Stone Virgin was originally part of a group of menhirs. On a map from 1840 "three stone virgins" are mentioned. Dreyhaupt, however, mentions only one stone as early as 1755.

Finds from the vicinity of the Menhirs derived from cord ceramic , the solid bronze time , the Iron Age , the Slavic early medieval and the Middle Ages .

The menhir in customs and legends

Hammered iron nail

In the Middle Ages , the menhir was used as a nail stone , as a number of nails still show today. There is also a tradition according to which nails can only be hammered in during downpours or thunderstorms.

According to another tradition, the three pastors of the surrounding towns had to alternately hold a mass once a year at the menhir, which clearly shows its special local importance.

A legend reports that once a (giant) virgin was on her way home from shopping during a storm. In order to cross puddles and mud without dirtying herself, she finally committed the iniquity of throwing bread she had just bought into the dirt in order to step over it. She was turned to stone on the spot. A variant of this legend ascribes the same outrage to a mother with two children. In a further variation it was a girl who wanted to go to Latvia to dance.

literature

  • Hans-Jürgen Beier : The megalithic, submegalithic and pseudomegalithic buildings as well as the menhirs between the Baltic Sea and the Thuringian Forest. Contributions to the prehistory and early history of Central Europe 1. Wilkau-Haßlau 1991, p. 65.
  • Johann Christoph von Dreyhaupt : Pagus Neletici et Nudzici or detailed diplomatic-historical description of the Saalkreyses, which belonged to the former primacy and archbishopric, but now secularized by the Westphalian peace treaty, Duchy of Magdeburg. Volume 2, 1755, p. 895 ( online ).
  • Johannes Felix , Max Näbe : About relationships of stone monuments and erratic blocks to cult, to legends and folk customs. In: Meeting reports of the Natural Research Society in Leipzig. Volume 42, 1915, pp. 7-8.
  • Klaus Friedrich , Betül Sahin, Manfred Frühauf (eds.): Halle and its surroundings. Geographic excursion guide. Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle (Saale) 2002, ISBN 3-89812-167-4 .
  • Alfred Götze , Paul Höfer , Paul Zschiesche : The prehistoric and early historical antiquities of Thuringia. Kabitzsch, Würzburg 1909, p. 8 ( online ).
  • Johannes Groht : Menhirs in Germany. State Office for Monument Preservation and Archeology Saxony-Anhalt, Halle (Saale) 2013, ISBN 978-3-943904-18-5 , p. 450.
  • Christian Keferstein : Views on Celtic antiquities, the Celts in general and especially in Germany. Volume I, Halle 1846, p. 24 ( online ).
  • Horst Kirchner : The menhirs in Central Europe and the menhir thought. Academy of Sciences and Literature, Treatises of the Humanities and Social Sciences Class, Born 1955, No. 9, Wiesbaden 1955, p. 178.
  • Waldtraut Schrickel : Western European elements in the Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age of Central Germany. Part I. Catalog. Publications of the State Museum for Prehistory Dresden, Volume 5, VEB Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig 1957, pp. 38–39.
  • Siegmar Schultze : The history of the Saalkreis from the earliest times. Halle 1912, p. 63.
  • Britta Schulze-Thulin : Large stone graves and menhirs. Saxony-Anhalt • Thuringia • Saxony . Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle (Saale) 2007, ISBN 978-3-89812-428-7 , pp. 95-96.
  • Bodo Wemhöner : Small monuments in the urban district of Halle - An inventory. In: Archeology in Saxony-Anhalt. NF Volume 2, 2004, pp. 73-80.
  • Bodo Wernhörner, Ralf Schwarz : Halle and the hall circle . Edited by Harald Meller . State Office for Monument Preservation and Archeology Saxony-Anhalt, Halle (Saale) 2006, ISBN 3-910010-97-X , ( Routes of Archeology 1).

Web links

Commons : Steinerne Jungfrau  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Short question and answer Olaf Meister (Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen), Prof. Dr. Claudia Dalbert (Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen), Ministry of Culture February 25, 2016 Printed matter 6/4829 (KA 6/9061) List of monuments Saxony-Anhalt
  2. ^ Johannes Groht: Menhirs in Germany. 2013, p. 450.
  3. ^ Waldtraut Schrickel: Western European elements in the Neolithic and in the early Bronze Age of Central Germany. Part I. Catalog. P. 38.
  4. ↑ a b c d e Waldtraut Schrickel: Western European elements in the Neolithic and in the early Bronze Age of Central Germany. Part I. Catalog. P. 39.
  5. ↑ Bodo Wernhörner, Ralf Schwarz: Hall and the hall circle. 2006, p. 64.
  6. ↑ Britta Schulze-Thulin: Large stone graves and menhirs. Saxony-Anhalt • Thuringia • Saxony. 2007, p. 96.
  7. ^ A b Christian Keferstein: Views on Celtic antiquities, the Celts in general and especially in Germany. 1846, p. 24.
  8. ^ A b Johann Christoph von Dreyhaupt: Pagus Neletici et Nudzici. Volume 2, 1755, p. 895.