The Siebenfelsen: piled up or cut open?
The Black Forest sometimes offers interesting cult sites that divide opinion. Less so the scientific ones, because they have long since settled. Above Yach near Elzach, on a mountain promontory, stands an imposing rock formation that geologists believe is the result of wool-sack weathering.
Sliema: Von Menschenhand geformter Felsenstrand
Der Felsenstrand an der Nordostküste Maltas bietet Überraschungen für Interessierte der Megalithkulturen. In Reiseführern gibt es keine offiziellen Hinweise darauf, dass der dortige Sandsteinfelsstrand nur wenige Stellen aufweist, die nicht in irgendeiner Form von Menschenhand geprägt wurde. Man gewinnt sogar schon fast den Eindruck, die dort vorliegenden Spuren sind einst entstanden, als das Gestein mehr oder weniger noch flüssig oder formbar war.
Renningen: All just natural theatre??
In 1990, the Stuttgart Regional Council decided to declare the Längenbühl near Renningen in the Böblingen district a nature reserve. The reason: the intention was to preserve an ehamlige reed sandstone quarry with "varied quarry faces and spoil heaps" including flora and fauna worth seeing. What certainly doesn't catch the visitor's eye at first glance are the sprouting rock carnation, the Gebbba toad and the fire salamander. The huge stone walls, which are said to play a role as the home of rare moss species, are more likely to catch the ey
Stacked high: cyclopean walls near Weil der Stadt
Megalithic structure awakened from slumber.
Stable: Monoliths in the Northern Black Forest
Amazing discoveries along a hiking trail, parallel to the country road.
Bretzenheim: From place of power to dosshouse
As always, you only see a fraction of what you should see. The rock heritage site near Bad Kreuznach, which is also called a rock monastery or place of pilgrimage, implies the clerical fugue of the Middle Ages by its very name.
Legendary: Mysterious rocks on the way to the Devil's Stone
If you have read my article about the Nordburg Lichtenstein in the Haßberge Nature Park, you may have noticed that the interior holds some "unearthed" treasures, which science does not really use or at least from my point of view leaves a lot in the dark. Those who visit the inner courtyard of the castle and follow the so-called "Legend Trail" down the valley should not be less surprised what awaits them there.
Druidenhain: Do geologists have the last word?
A stone's throw from Wohlmannsgesees in the district of Forchheim/Oberfranken lies the Druidenhain, a rock maze of mighty dolomite blocks.
Merzbacher Point: More than just a castle ruin
What is officially sold to us as a quarry in the Rhätsandstein can be seen more closely in the Franconian Hassbergkreis. The small community of Buch is situated in a wooded area, only a few kilometres between Lichtenstein Castle and Gereuth Castle. A stone's throw for hikers.
Good stamina: Teufelstisch in the Palatinate Forest
Traces and legacies of the natural erosion force in the soft sandstone of the Bund are stumbling across all corners and ends in the hiking area of the Palatinate Forest. The lush green landscape is repeatedly interrupted by rock formations whose bizarre shapes remind one of imposing western backdrops. Especially unusual is the 14 meter high Teufelstisch in Hinterweidenthal, which from my point of view makes an outstanding figure.
Rotenhan monolith installations: a rock castle or a pagan place of worship?
Near Ebern in the district of Haßberge there are interesting rocks which formed the architectural "pillars" of a castle ruin of the noble family "those of Rotenhan". Rock castles are rare in the region anyway. Before they were used as fortresses, did the striking rocks, which were already thickly overgrown, serve another purpose? Much is unclear... even if science once again has no doubts.
The hollow stone in the Haßwald forest
Reutersbrunn is a small, at first glance insignificant village community in Lower Franconia. The authors of the book "Black Madonna" (Xavier Maria Gwaltinger and Josef Rausch) state that the place is literally "infested with pictures of the Virgin Mary". In fact, crucifixes can be found everywhere at the entrances to towns and at courtyards in a "exhibition density" that I did not notice so much when passing through the surrounding towns. If I had looked there a little longer and more intensively, I might have noticed the portraits of Mary mentioned above.
The lizard of the Isterberg and the castle rocks of Bentheim
Only two hours by car from me I visited the "Isterberger cliffs", which according to archaeological findings left traces of civilization at least 8,000 years ago. A Germanic place of worship with inspiration for more...
