Stacked high: cyclopean walls near Weil der Stadt

 

 

About 2 years ago, Bernd Krautloher "kissed awake" the cyclopean wall behind an inconspicuous car park on a country road near Merklingen from its slumber. At the time, a human need had prompted him to search for the inhospitable entrance to a forgotten mini "canyon".

 

Walk over the hilltop, the first big rocks have to be overcome.

 

Inconspicuous view from above

 

 

First indications of washed out wall or rock building structures on steep slopes

 

Arrived at the bottom: The approximately 7-metre-high "Cyclopean" wall on one of the two sides.

 

One could also speak of an absolute coincidence or a twist of fate. There are no open accesses to this area. You have to be willing to climb a small hill of about 20 metres to get a first overview. Once at the top, you find yourself on a hilltop whose dense vegetation initially makes it difficult to see the other side of the inner ridge. If you are motivated enough, however, you follow the hilltop and find an exit down the side. Maybe not long enough for a real valley, but enchanted enough to let your eyes wander with your mouth open. What we find there is absolutely unbelievable and pretty much the most inexplicable thing I have seen with my own eyes this year.

 

The opposite side is a little more overgrown.

 

 

 

The head of the corridor, is this where the possible demolition wall was?

 

 

Exposed boulders in ashlars on top of each other.

 

 

To the left and right of an original "demolition wall" in front of the head (I put it in inverted commas, as one can be divided about this), there are rocks piled up by the ton along a passage about 4-5 metres wide. When I speak of a cyclopean wall here, it is rather misleading. First of all, there are two walls on either side of two opposite ridges, and secondly, they may have been part of a more complex structure. Seen on their own, they make no sense at all.

 

 

 

Even as a giant wall, the drywall structure of this "wall" seems untypical to me. Far too large gaps, no uniform format adjustment of the blocks, partly also the use/integration of rather inappropriate pointed vertical formats.

 

 

 

The rocks are each piled up about 7 metres high and certainly served to fortify or (perhaps even subsequently) camouflage a structure that can no longer be seen with the naked eye. The relief map of the Geoportal Baden-Württemberg confirms the exposed ridge, but initially does not reveal any artificial structures either. You have to be on site to get an idea of this.

 

One almost gets the impression that these gigantic walls were only built to block access to the mountain. As a classical fortification, they seem rather "unclean", since one could have easily climbed up them. The door is wide open to all kinds of speculation.

 

 

 

The monstrous rock of the lower pictures is supported by smaller rocks underneath, presumably in order not to tilt too much forward and thereby endanger the statics of the giants above.

 

 

The sandstone blocks stacked on top of each other are each x-times as heavy as a tonne and, from my point of view, were stacked on top of each other in such a way that one could think that the intention behind it was far more utilitarian than artistic or aesthetic. Dry stone masonry on the usual scale does not leave such huge gaps, protrusions and different formats. None of these giant rocks have been "prepared" for their final use in this form.  Sometimes the rocks are rectangular and flat, sometimes upright or nearly square. In my mind's eye I see magical hands levitating up rocks scattered everywhere, which may have previously been components of a large structure and perhaps made the natural corridor inaccessible 8-10,000 years ago after a cataclysmic event, stacked sideways to clear the middle path. Probably complete nonsense, but who knows the Rätel's solution.

 

Again and again conspicuous recesses also on the section that could be identified as a demolition wall.

 

 

 

On closer inspection, there are numerous indications that technology was involved in this process. At least the eye is used to questioning regularities and symmetries. There are at least a few of these, but they raise further questions.

 

Not a facility from yesterday (rather from the day before)

 

First of all, the idea that everything could have been created in more recent times. This can be safely shelved, as two important points can already be eliminated:

 

Technical feasibility

After a site inspection, an expert in heavy transport and cranes has already determined that it is absolutely impossible to move the necessary heavy equipment into this area, set it up and then operate it in a proper manner due to the cramped spatial situation. The delivery personnel of such cranes alone would not find the necessary space for this. They could not have been lifted with normal cranes; special heavy-duty cranes are needed for this weight class (in some cases up to approx. 30 tonnes).

 

 

Minimum dating

A botanist has already analysed the lichens on the stones and found that they are at least 160 years old. They are probably so-called map lichens, whose growth amounts to about 0.3 mm per year. In this way, one can confidently assume that the technologies should have come into use at the latest shortly after the so-called industrial revolution to stack the rocks there. So one may ask whether better technologies existed around 1860 than today to accomplish such a thing. The answer is basically obvious (unless we know much less about the 19th century and the technology available then than we think we know today).

 

Strangely enough, the neighbour a few hundred metres away, who runs a farm and is also said to have grown up there, is not aware of what is hidden behind the 20-metre-high ridge. One has to wonder whether there is deliberate "walling" going on here, or whether he just played here blindfolded as a child. Perhaps it would be advisable to ask other neighbours in the area. 

 

Conspicuous drillings

 

In numerous places, the rocks, some of which must weigh around 30 tonnes, show striking drill grooves. The courses are quite interesting: As a rule, they run parallel from top to bottom, but sometimes in the opposite direction. And this with rocks that have a gigantic weight. Did they "simply" turn over when they were stacked? In addition, there are also transverse drill holes that meet longitudinal drill holes. Interestingly, the drill bodies are obviously of different diameters, as the drill holes also have a width that sometimes deviates by up to 1 cm. Sometimes they do not run straight throughout, but seem to be slightly "bent" or at least clearly "deflected".

 

 

 

In terms of measurement, there are deviations in the drilling channels. 5 mm to 1 cm are not uncommon.

 

 

 

At first glance, the drill notches look straight. On closer inspection, however, we also find hints of "serpentine lines".

 

 

 

 

Drilling from the bottom to the top. In the picture below you can see the rock in its total size.

 

 

Symmetrical boreholes at a height of about 6-8 metres on the underside of a protruding (presumably worked) rock. Are these the boreholes in preparation for an unfinished demolition? However, these look larger to me from a distance than the 30-35 mm diameter measured.

 

 

Minerals that do not belong there

At least in one place there is a rock that does not fit geologically with the sandstone plant there. It is gneiss, medium-hard rock variety (Mohs hardness 3), a temporary single specimen. It must have been brought here from outside. Where from is unknown for the time being. An absolute mystery. The find has already been confirmed by a geologist.

 

Bernd points to the upper stone of the wall section to show us the gneiss. This is also provided with conspicuously numerous parallel drill grooves.

 

So, again, there are completely different ways of thinking about it. Question number 1: Where does all the material come from? In front of the head of the mountain passage ("mini-canyon") is a possible quarry site. Whether most of the rock comes from this side or from a side branch is probably still uncertain. It is also questionable whether the piled up quantities at the side of the passage match this site in terms of quantity. Question number 2: How was the material processed (with which technologies) and - above all - stacked?

 

 

 

Investigation of a strange pit

At the edge of the site there is a strange depression, which originally could have been anything. A tree that has been pulled out can be ruled out; the hole is too large in diameter and, above all, too deep. Perhaps it was once a hidden or low-lying entrance that was not filled in thoroughly enough and where the earth is slowly "caving in".

 

Once in the 3-4 metre deep pit, you spontaneously see straight edges that indicate technical work. This section becomes more and more exciting the deeper you crawl.

 

 

What is striking here, after closer examination, are the marginal rocks in the depth of the pit, which have been smoothly and cleanly cut away below. My guess is that the original height of a former overall structure, which may also be connected to the two ridges, was much greater than we see here. It is possible that at the current ground level we are already on floor 2 or 3 of a structure that originally went much further down. A phenomenon that we encounter again and again.

 

Lowest point of the pit: Smooth undersides of the rocks, which are separately at the same height. Look like they have been ground down.

 

 

Even the front of the natural stone in the pit is as smooth and even as the front of an underground bunker. Absolutely remarkable.

 

 

 

This entire complex, or rather the inner corridor, lies on the same latitude as the so-called "Nature Theatre" in Renningen, which I also visited during my last stay. I personally do not disclose the coordinates of this complex, but I am happy to put you in touch with the discoverer.

 

Here is also a nice video of the location to get an overall impression.