Devil's Stones in the Hünx Forest
Coordinates: 51 ° 36 ′ 31.2 " N , 6 ° 49 ′ 33.3" E
It is said of the devil's stones in the Hünxer Wald that they were thrown there by the devil when he tried to use them to destroy the church in Hünxe . They are not far from the Bergerstraße, which leads from Dinslaken to Bottrop-Kirchhellen , on a forest path in the Hohe Wart. From a geological point of view, the 5 stones on Teufelssteinweg are tertiary quartzites . They arose on site at the end of the lignite age about 10 million years ago through silicification of the sandy soil and are therefore not boulders in the true sense of the word. The holes in the rock come from tree roots. The quartzites have a height of 0.33 to 0.76 m and a size of 1.0 × 1.5 m to 3.5 × 4.1 m. Some of them are sunk into the swampy forest floor, covered by beech leaves and overgrown with moss. Some symbols and texts are carved into them.
The devil's stones are a natural monument. It is listed as ND 27 in the Wesel district natural monument list in the Hünxe and Schermbeck area landscape plan.
The devil stones
Many only know the 4 Teufelssteine that can be discovered from the wooden footbridge on Teufelssteinweg. However, the natural monument consists of five stones:
Although the fourth stone is the largest, its dimensions are 410 × 350 × 50 cm, it is difficult to find in the forest. It lies above a ditch in the forest and is overgrown with moss. On its upper side, 15 straight holes lead into the stone. They are drill holes. Apparently they wanted to blow it up in the past, but for some reason they didn't. Location
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The fifth devil stone is often overlooked because it is a bit apart from the others. It is located at the Teufelssteinweg / Knüppelweg crossroads and has already sunk quite deep into the swampy forest floor. Location
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About giants, the devil and the Hünxer Church
There are several legends about the origin of the Teufelssteine in the Hünxer Wald. One tells of two giants , father and son, who passed here on a hunting trip for aurochs and bears .
On the way from the Kirchhellener Heide to the Testerberge mountains , the young giant started to limp because sand had slipped into his wooden shoe and was chafing. To hide his pain, he clenched his teeth because he didn't want to show any weakness and wanted to be a real giant and not a sloppy guy. This was seen as a disadvantage for the giants and they quickly became a mockery. The giant son couldn't go any further on the skating tree because his foot hurt so much. Wailing, he turned to the giant father and complained of his suffering. He advised him to shake the dirt out of the wooden shoe. The son did that too. There was a large and two small stones in the giant clogs. He snapped her finger into the bushes and into the swamp. Relieved and relieved of his pain, the boy and his father continued the hunt. The "stones" are still in the Hünxer Wald today and on the largest one can see the giant's fingerprint.
However, the story of the stone-throwing devil from the Tester Mountains west of Hünxe is better known.
When the Hünx Church was built in the 15th century, the devil disliked it so much that he looked for a way to destroy it. In a bad mood, he observed the progress of the work day after day and discovered from his vantage point that churches were also being built in other cities in the Lippe Valley. He didn't like it at all that Christianity was spreading further and further on the Lower Rhine. In his anger he pondered how he could prevent the church from being rebuilt and found no solution. The church was erected and the construction of the bell tower began. In desperation, he turned to his grandmother. She always had some advice when the devil got stuck. "You're so strong," she said to him. "Why don't you just smash the building with boulders?"
The devil liked that and his mood improved a little. Now he wanted to savor the shame of the people, gleefully as he was, and waited impatiently until the weathercock could be seen on the top of the church tower. Then he wanted to strike. Every day he climbed the Testerberg and when the golden weathercock shone in the sun, his anger knew no bounds. He took a thick boulder and threw it forcefully towards the church. However, he had not correctly estimated the distance. The stone flew into the twilight forest . The second throw was too weak and many further aiming attempts failed because the devil was blinded each time by the sun, which was reflected in the weathercock. Discouraged, the devil gave up his plan. It is said that the earth shook in the Lippe Valley on that day. The stones can still be found in the area today. So that the devil would not come up with the idea of throwing stones at the Hünx church again, the smallest devil stone was built into the facade of the church. You can find it 6 m to the right of the entrance door of the Evangelical village church.
Others
Not far from the Devil's Stones is the Kürbaum. It marks an old Germanic cult site with a boulder. Once there was an ancient, mighty oak that had grown together with a beech. Judgment was held under the tree, sacrifices were made to the gods, and leaders were elected. The pagan cult site was used as a place of justice until the Middle Ages. It marks the border between Hünxe, Dinslaken and Grafschaft. In 1937 the old pumpkin collapsed. In its place, a young copper beech was planted next to the stump. Location
