© Spurensucher - 19. September 2019

Devils Bench, Devils wall and Cartruts

Cart-Ruts-5

 

The last stage of the historical tour of Leistadt is a breathtaking one: first the Devils bench and Devils wall follow - an unmistakable sign that the Christian Gestapo has done everything to keep visitors away from this place in recent centuries. The "Devils" classification was intended to deliberately prevent people from taking a closer look at the conditions there. The Catholic Church certainly had (and still has today) the corresponding knowledge advantage to classify these conditions more specifically.

In modern times the spit was simply turned around and the topic of deterrence was transformed into banalisation. Without explanation science lets the visitors pass and after further inquiry succinctly the word "Romans" falls. Everything else is merely geological coincidences and not the subject of further investigations.

 

The devils bench corresponds a little, although not quite so complex, to the structure of the Kanapee from the previous stage (>> Link). Hiking guides only have the thin explanation: "A bench carved into the rock. Nearby another boundary stone of the Leininger."

 

Teufelsbank1

 

Teufelsbank2

 

The other boundary stone is anything but exciting, but I take it with me for the sake of completeness.

 

Grenzstein

 

The devils bench made of sandstone, like all other rocks you can find there, surprised me a little bit after a closer look.

In the sandstone there are large pieces of gravel enclosed practically everywhere. For concrete professionals this is a familiar picture, as something like this distinguishes a rather moderate concrete quality. This is not to say that artificial processes or even geopolymers once played a role here. However, I refer here to the possibility of a short-term hardening of semi-solid or partially liquid mass (Link). Geologists would like to get at my throat at this point at the latest, because this is not common doctrine at all. But first take a look at it yourself.

 

Teufelsmauer1

 

Teufelsmauer8

 

A little reminiscent of stacked goods: the so-called Devil's Wall gives the impression as if someone had "laid hands" here in ancient times. Of course, appearances can be deceptive, but here conspicuous regularities are equally countered by supposed geological coincidences.

 

Teufelsmauer7

 

Teufelsmauer6

 

The walls are covered with coarse gravel inclusions. If you google the Leistädter Bundsandstein, you will find numerous flawless beige-terracotta natural stone products. Pictures of such coarse inclusions are unlikely to be found in this context.

 

Teufelsmauer2

 

Teufelsmauer4

 

In any case, weird

Here we go: After only a few hundred meters you come across the Cartruts with the sign "Roman wagon tracks". The guide says: "This road was used by the Romans to drive the carved stones and coffins from the ‘Krummholzer chair‘. Traces of wagons driven into the rock are still visible today". In my opinion they were indeed wagon tracks, but certainly not those of the Romans. How such traces came into the rocks remains here deliberately unthematized. Also here we find gravel inclusions in a rather smooth driven bedrock. Parallel guides and slight crossings of the Gefährspuren formed. Certainly not intentional, although we have always been told that the Romans deliberately laid out the tracks ... Why would they have organised such a mess? In order to pull or push something practically on "rails" or to move vehicles more suitable for off-road use, one would certainly not have "pulled" cross tracks or unplanned looking one-sided parallel tracks. Have a look yourself ...

 

Cart-Ruts3

 

At a distance of about 4-5 meters, two parallel Cartrut tracks, each about 2.5 meters long. The "rail" to the right runs double. Of course there is a connection between the two track sections, but the middle section and the rest (uphill and downhill) disappear under the forest floor.

 

Cart-Ruts-8

 

Cart-Ruts1

 

Close-up of the deep left track, no traces of machining can be seen.

 

Cart-Ruts2

 

 

Cart-Ruts-5

 

 

Cart-Ruts4

 

I personally assume a material consolidation of the soil structure and not a helpful cultivation of the soil by Romans. To what extent this solidification was of cataclysmic origin or how far back in time this process took place - everyone may make a rhyme out of it.