Weißenstein (Stammbach)
| Weissenstein | ||
|---|---|---|
 Weißenstein Tower |
||
| height | 668 m above sea level NHN | |
| location | Upper Franconia , Bavaria | |
| Mountains | Transitional area Frankenwald - Fichtelgebirge | |
| Coordinates | 50 ° 7 '48 " N , 11 ° 41' 25" E | |
|
||
| rock | Eclogite | |
| particularities | Weißenstein Tower ( AT ) | |
The Weißenstein is 668 m above sea level. NHN high mountain on the Münchberger plateau near Stammbach in the transition area from the Franconian Forest to the Fichtel Mountains .
Location and special features
The districts of Hof , Bayreuth and Kulmbach meet at Weißenstein . It is the local mountain of the Stammbach market , on whose area the highest point is located. The peculiarity of the Weißenstein as a geotope and part of the Geopark Bavaria-Bohemia is its nature: It essentially consists of eclogites . On the summit there is a traditional inn and the Weißenstein Tower, which is open all year round . In addition to a network of hiking trails, the Weißenstein is a stage destination of the quality hiking trail Franconian Stone Kingdom . The forest care trail is a circular hiking trail in the summit area that provides information on modern forest management. At a short distance of 200 meters below the inn, a path leads to the Weißenstein spring that was built in 1933.
Eclogite is a rare green rock (green omphacite pyroxene ) with red inclusions (red pyrope - garnet ). Eclogite is very heavy (3.3 g / cm³), heavier than other hard stones such as basalt or granite . The eclogite deposit on Weißenstein is the largest single deposit in Central Europe. The area is under nature protection , which prohibits the mining and removal of the rock. But collectors will quickly find one or the other piece in the fields around Stammbach.
Geotope
The summit region and the eclogite on the Weißenstein are designated by the Bavarian State Office for the Environment (LfU) as a geoscientifically particularly valuable geotope (geotope number: 475A029). It was also awarded the official seal of approval for Bavaria's most beautiful geotopes by the LfU .
history
The Weißenstein was already of strategic importance in the Middle Ages. Due to its exposed location, you could see the Plassenburg and other striking points as far as Kulmbach . That is why the Weißenstein was integrated into the margravial waiting system.
The system of waiting towers had become necessary because the Guttenberg feud in 1497 between Margrave Friedrich and Moritz von Guttenberg repeatedly led to looting in the margravial area. The aim of the system was to locate such robber baron attacks quickly and to fight them with armed troops. The " captain on the mountains " Kunz von Wirsberg worked out a maintenance order in 1498 , which provided for 18 permanently manned signal stations. Each signal station was given a tower with two to three floors and was always manned by two guards. They had the task of observing the other waiting towers and the surrounding area day and night and giving the alarm if necessary. The transmission system at that time was very primitive and consisted of fire by night and smoke by day.
The Weißenstein belonged to the Himmelkron monastery for a long time . By 1550 the forest on the mountain must have been pretty decimated. Small wars and the hardship of the time had probably ensured that the Stammbachers did not ask long when it came to the monastic forest on the Weißenstein. This self-service mentality led to constant conflicts between the forestry office and the monastery office. Around 1670, the Stammbachers questioned the monastery’s claims to ownership and claimed a piece of forest on the Weißenstein. As a result, on May 9, 1671, an expert commission was convened under the direction of the Justice Council Luther. After a comparison of the land registers, he found that the Stammbachers had no claim. Despite this clear state of affairs, the Stammbachers continued to cut wood on the Weißenstein, and in some cases even officially. The Stammbacher Vogt Heinrich Solger sent two men to cut wood. As expected, the Himmelkroner sued again on April 5, 1672 and demanded compensation of 200 fathoms , which the Stammbachers would probably have needed several years with the technology of the time. This incident was only heard in court on May 5, 1690. The Stammbach community had to pay a fine of 20 Reichstaler as well as the costs of the proceedings.
Between 1701 and 1704, guards were again posted on the Weißenstein. It was feared that the War of the Spanish Succession would extend to the margravate.
From 1705 the Stammbachers tried to buy "their" Weißenstein. The originally asked price of 100 guilders was too high for them, especially since the mountain was viewed as an unforested wasteland. The Princely Chamber agreed on October 20, 1705 to sell the area. This only happened on December 15, 1707. Stammbach and Metzlesdorf bought the mountain for 50 guilders, plus 45 kroner hereditary interest and 45 kroner chamber tax. The watch tower, which is now slowly decaying, was not part of the purchase. The fiefdom holder was Mayor Hans Heinel.
In 1864 the Weißenstein was reforested under Mayor Andreas Schoepf.
Weißenstein Tower
Towers on the Weißenstein were originally built as waiting towers and in the Middle Ages belonged to a whole system of towers . A seven meter high stone round tower was built on the Weißenstein in 1898. This was probably only used for viewing purposes. During the construction of this tower, the foundations of a medieval guard tower were exposed. The builder was Philipp Ehrler. The cost of the construction should have been around 700 marks. The trees planted in 1864 quickly towered over the tower, which led to the idea of a new tower. The tower was replaced by today's 19 m high Weißenstein tower.
In 1924 the planning of today's tower began. The contract was awarded to the architect Hans Reissinger from Bayreuth. He had already designed the Asenturm on the Ochsenkopf . The new tower was inaugurated on May 21, 1925. The construction costs were between 11,000 and 14,000 Reichsmarks, depending on the source . As with the first tower, the builder was Philipp Ehrler, this time with his son Karl. The roof (Flaschner work) was carried out by Hans Weiß. The tower is probably the only building in the world that is made of eclogite. The stones for the construction were broken directly below the tower in a quarry specially created for the tower.
The tower is open to the public all year round. It offers a panoramic view of the Fichtel Mountains and the Franconian Forest . It is a monument .
Inn
The inn on the summit of the Weißenstein directly next to the tower is now a modern restaurant that is open all year round. The beginnings of the inn go back to a shelter hut that the Beautification Association built in 1899. This was followed in 1904 by a much larger, stone lodging house, which was expanded in 1926.
Weißenstein Association
The Weißenstein summit is looked after by the Weißensteinverein, founded on April 23, 1898 as a beautification association, which is now a local group of the Fichtelgebirgsverein e. V. is. In the years immediately after the association was founded, the association developed brisk construction activity on the Weißenstein. On the one hand, efforts were made to stimulate tourism; on the other hand, they were looking for a place to relax and hold celebrations on the Stammbach local mountain. The association is responsible for the construction of the tower from 1898 and 1925 and the inn, which began as a hut, along with other facilities such as a beer cellar or a bowling alley. The founding members included the factory owners Robert Schoepf and Ottmar Müller, who would be financially strong club chairmen until 1932, but also teachers, mayor Konrad Schneider, master builder Philipp Ehrler and other master craftsmen. The founding phase also inspired neighboring villages and so, in addition to Stammbach, local groups were formed in Streitau , Marktschorgast and Münchberg . During the time of the Nazi dictatorship, the association was brought into line and some larger events that were true to the line were staged on the Weißenstein. In the post-war period, the club's activities increased again, but no longer reached the extent of the pre-war period. Maintenance work and the catering business could be guaranteed. In 1991 he was accepted into the Fichtelgebirgsverein. The cover page of the 1996 Festschrift features a picture of the tower by Karl Bedal .
literature
- Tilmann Breuer : District of Münchberg . The art monuments of Bavaria , brief inventories, XIII. Band . German art publisher . Munich 1961. p. 61.
- Helmut Hennig: Warthen on the mountains . In: Local supplement to the official school gazette of the administrative district of Upper Franconia . Bayreuth. No. 256 November 1998. pp. 29-33.
- Weißensteinverein (ed.): 100 years of Weißensteinverein (1896-1996) . Festschrift, Zell 1996.
Web links
- Entry to Weißenstein at the market town of Stammbach
- Entry to Weißenstein at the Fichtelgebirgsverein e. V.
- Eklogit am Weißenstein at the Bavarian State Office for the Environment
- Panorama from the Weißenstein Tower to the Fichtel Mountains at www.panorama-photo.net
Individual evidence
- ↑ Bavaria Atlas of the Bavarian State Government ( notes )
- ^ Bavarian State Office for the Environment, Geotope Eklogit am Weißenstein S von Stammbach (accessed on March 22, 2020).
- ↑ Bavaria's most beautiful geotopes, Eklogit am Weißenstein (accessed on November 25, 2017)