Growing rock

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Usterling Johannisfelsen in summer 2012

The Growing Rock , also called Johannisfelsen after John the Baptist , is a natural monument in Usterling , a district of Landau an der Isar in the Lower Bavarian district of Dingolfing-Landau . Among these rare karst formations, it is one of the large ones that belong to the group of stone gullies .

description

Stone gutters are structures that, under certain conditions, arise from small, heavily calcareous springs from limestone deposits (spring limestone). In over 5,000 years this channel has grown to almost 40 meters in length and 5 meters in height, making it the largest stone channel in Germany. The spring outlet is bound to a layer boundary between water-bearing gravels and water- retaining marls in the Upper Freshwater Molasse. The exact age of the stone channel is only available. It is assumed that the formation is geologically relatively young at several thousand years. The central groove is of tuffbildenden mosses (eg. Stark nerve Moose , et al.. Cratoneuron commutatum and liverworts ) constructed, while the stream bed with blue - and green algae films is lined.

The source stream still flows today over the long, roughly hand-wide rock ridge until it falls over a rock nose into a natural basin. The spring water was said to have healing properties for the treatment of eye diseases.

The oldest representation of the growing rock of Usterling can be found on the late Gothic winged altar by an unknown artist from Hans Leinberger's environment in the village church of St. Johannes von Usterling. In the lower picture of the left wing of the altar, the baptism of Jesus by John is moved to the growing rock - a curiosity from the cultural and historical point of view. The illustration shows the natural monument as it should have looked around 1500.

See also the list of stone gutters in Bavaria .

Geotope

The channel has been designated as Geotope 279R004 by the Bavarian State Office for the Environment and was awarded the official seal of approval " Bavaria's most beautiful geotopes " in 2002. In 2006 it was included in the list of 77 awarded national geotopes in Germany.

St. John's Chapel

The St. Johannes Chapel , which belongs to the parish of St. Martin in Höcking , towers over the rock . At the foot of the rock which also is John the Baptist chapels dedicated bildstock with a wooden Johannes figure.

Picture gallery

  • front view

  • Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. Detail of the altar in the branch church of Usterling

  • Bottom view

  • Usterling Johannisfelsen in summer 2012

  • Bird's eye view

    Bird's eye view

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Growing Rock  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gertrud Keim, Stefan Glaser, Ulrich Lagally: Geotope in Niederbayern , In: Bayerisches Geologisches Landesamt (Ed.): Earth Science Contributions to Nature Conservation, Volume 4, Munich 2004, ISBN 978-3-940009-65-4 , p. 159
  2. ↑ a b c Bavarian State Office for the Environment: Growing rocks from Usterling , accessed on April 9, 2014
  3. ↑ F. Pustet: Archives for Liturgical Science, Volume 5, Part 1, Maria Laach 1957, p. 203
  4. ^ Catholic parish office Mamming: Filial and pilgrimage church St. Johann, Baptist and Evangelist in Usterling
  5. ↑ Geotope: Growing rocks from Usterling (accessed on October 13, 2013; PDF; 197 kB)
  6. ↑ Ulrich Lagally: Splendid colors of nature - The minerals in the Silberberg near Bodenmais in the Bavarian Forest . In: Ernst-Rüdiger Look, Ludger Feldmann (Ed.): Fascination Geology. The important geotopes of Germany , E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-510-65219-3 , pp. 162f.

Coordinates: 48 ° 39 ′ 43.7 ″  N , 12 ° 38 ′ 55.9 ″  E