Wittekindstein

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The Wittekindstein in Exter
The Wittekindstein

The so-called Wittekindstein is located on the northern edge of Wittekindstrasse in the Exter -Solterwisch district of the East Westphalian town of Vlotho in the Herford district in North Rhine-Westphalia . It is named after Widukind ("Wittekind"), the Duke of the Saxons . The stone has been a listed building since 1985 .

description

The Wittekindstein is a hewn sandstone block , the dimensions of which today are around 1.25 m in height, 1.12 m in width and 0.35 m in depth. The shape of the processing is reminiscent of a bench with a backrest. In the upper area of ​​the “backrest” there is the inscription “D” in capital letters. HORST THIS STONE HAS BEEN RENOVED ANO 1659 ”. Underneath are three seal-like characters with initials as well as the year 1584 and a stonemason's mark in the lower area . A spectroscopic analysis carried out in autumn 2012 showed that the object consists of Lippe Rhätquarzite and was very likely not broken until the end of the 16th century in the vicinity of today's location.

The stone used to be on an important main road ( Hellweg ) that led from Herford to Vlotho. In the meantime he had been transferred to a different but close place. In 1961, the stone was returned to its original location and integrated into a plateau-like system with steps. The reset was honored with a ceremony on September 8th.

Surname

As Wittekindstein , the object was probably first publicly named in the Weserbuch by August Engel in 1845 . In 1864 the historian Friedrich Vormbaum took over the name. According to this, the name of the stone is derived from a local legend according to which Saxon Duke Widukind and Charlemagne shook hands in conciliatory terms over the stone after a war. In another legend it is said that Widukind had this stone armchair ready to rest here and look at the beautiful hillside area.

The oldest known description of the stone comes from the historian Leopold von Ledebur . Already in 1825 he reported a story in connection with Widukind, but the name “Wittekindstein” was not mentioned there.

interpretation

The Wittekindstein is now interpreted as a judicial stone from the Middle Ages. Two of the three seal-like symbols of the stone could previously be assigned to a judge and a lay judge from Herford as so-called house brands , the third seal not yet. The named in the inscription »D. HORST «is probably the Vlothoer Drost Arnold von der Horst, who administered the free court at that time .

literature

  • History workshop Exter (Ed.): Search for traces VI - Mittelbachtal to Wittekindstein . Vlotho 1998, DNB  966095685 .
  • Karl Grossmann: Poetry and Truth about the Wittekindstein, Ravensberger Blätter 22, 1962, pp. 335–339.

Web links

Commons : Wittekindstein  - collection of images, videos and audio files

swell

  1. ↑ Contributions to the local history SD12, "Exter-Tour", AK Dorfentwicklung und Geschichtswerkstatt Exter, 2014, p. 143ff. ISSN  1619-7828
  2. ↑ Herford municipal archive
  3. ↑ August angels Weser book , published by Becker, Hameln, 1845; Reprint 1990 Niemeyer, Hameln
  4. ^ Friedrich Vormbaum: The County of Ravensberg and the city and former Abbey of Herford , 1864
  5. ^ Leopold von Ledebur: The Principality of Minden and the County of Ravensberg . Monuments of History, Art and Antiquity , 1825

Coordinates: 52 ° 8 ′ 58.7 "  N , 8 ° 48 ′ 49.6"  E