Devil's Stone (Zerbst)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Devil's Stone from Zerbst
Excerpt from Johann Christoph Bekmann : Historie Des Fürstenthums Anhalt From its old inhabitants and some old monuments , p. 29 (1710)

The devil stone of Zerbst is a boulder in Zerbst / Anhalt in the Anhalt-Bitterfeld district , Saxony-Anhalt , which may have been used as a nail stone in the Middle Ages and / or the early modern period .

location

According to a report by Johann Christoph Bekmann from 1710, there was a conspicuous stone near the “Hainholz”, a forest area in the southwest of Zerbst, which at the request of Princess Johanna Elisabeth was renamed “Friedrichsholz” in 1749 and transformed into a park was, however, since 1945 called "Waldfrieden" and is mainly used for forestry.

The stone described by Bekmann is very likely identical to the "Teufelstein", which is located about 200 m north of the forest area on a green area between Biaser Straße and Am Teufelstein.

description

The stone is made of pink gneiss granite . According to Bekmann, “a number of iron spikes” had been driven into the stone, which in his opinion resulted from unsuccessful attempts at splitting. Today several deep elongated holes can be seen on the top of the stone; Iron residues are no longer recognizable. Hans-Jürgen-Beier classified the stone as a presumed menhir based on Bekmann's report , but there is no evidence that the stone ever stood upright.

The legend of the devil stone

There is a legend about the Teufelstein , which is supposed to explain its location and the distinctive holes on its top. The devil is said to have once signed a contract with the residents of Zerbst that the city should belong to him if he could drag the stone around the city in one night. The devil then looped a chain around the stone and set off. But he was secretly observed by a resident and when the devil had already come a long way, the man crowed like a rooster. The devil now believed it was morning, left the stone and cursed away.

Another variant of this legend reports that a prince of Anhalt concluded the contract with the devil and that he had to carry the stone three times around the city. The devil drove an ax into the stone that stuck to it and took it on his shoulder. On the third circumnavigation of the city, however, the ax broke and the stone fell to the ground.

Protection status

The boulder has been protected as a natural monument by a nature conservation ordinance since 1967 and is included in the directory of natural monuments in the Anhalt-Bitterfeld district under the no .

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. 63.
  • Johann Christoph Bekmann : History of the Principality of Anhalt From its old inhabitants and some of the old monuments that were still available / natural life / division / rivers / towns / spots and villages / Fürstl. Highness / Stories of the Prince. People / religious acts / princely ministries, aristocratic families / scholars / and other bourgeois class noble people. 1st - 4th Part, Zerbst 1710, p. 29 ( online ).
  • Wilhelm Albert von Brunn : Knowledge and care of the ground monuments in Anhalt. In: Annual publication for Central German prehistory. Volume 41/42, 1958, p. 36.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Zerbst, the Castle and the Regents. In: schloss-zerbst.de. Retrieved December 11, 2017 .
  2. ↑ Beier (1991): p. 63.
  3. ^ Brandt: Legends from the Province of Saxony. 8. The Devil's Stone at Zerbst. In: Journal of Folklore. Volume 1, 1889, p. 386 ( Wikisource ).
  4. ↑ Zerbster sagas .
  5. ^ Directory "Natural monuments" in the Anhalt-Bitterfeld district (PDF) , Anhalt-Bitterfeld district, Anhalt-bitterfeld.de, accessed on December 14, 2017.

Coordinates: 51 ° 57 '15.8 "  N , 12 ° 5' 6.4"  E