Wunsiedel Marble
The Wunsiedler Marble is a metamorphic group of carbonate rocks, which were mainly obtained in Wunsiedel in several quarries and which are. This Upper Franconian Calcitmarmor has found in its region and beyond, especially in Bavaria distribution. He enters into a northern (around Wunsiedel ) and southern (around Marktredwitz and Arzberg ) tape.
- 5.1 Notes and references
Deposit
The deposit of carbonate rocks of Wunsiedel consists mainly of Kalksilikatfels and marble. It starts as a northern structural unit with a Kalksilikatzug in the West in the survey between the Zinnbach and the glass stream in the community Troestau, sweeps in a northeasterly direction passing north of Wunsiedel and ends southwest swa village Schönlind. It is accompanied by some transverse fracture zones. There is no stone was mined.
In parallel, and about 1000 meters south extends the narrow northern Marmorzug as an elongated band. It starts in the city Troestau, then continues under the southern settlement area of Wunsiedel to the hamlet Holenbrunn. There, added a failure, the marble deposit approximately 500 meters in a northerly direction and skims Göpfersgrün in two moves further to the northeast. Shortly before Thiersheim the Lagerstättenzug narrowed to a single strip, which ends at Kothigenbibersbach on the surface.
The southern band is less pronounced, coming from Dechantsees it extends under Marktredwitz up to Arzberg. There predominantly gray finely grained marble is represented.
In general, it is unfolded marble layers of Precambrian age, which form a part of the Arzberg Series. These layers fall a steep and are interrupted by numerous faults.
Mining sites there were in Troestau, Wunsiedel, Holenbrunn, Sinatengrün, stemma, Thiersheim in Hohenberg an der Eger and Dechantsees and Neusorg.
Petrography
The Wunsiedler marble is medium - to coarse -grained crystalline in its structure. Its color is white to light gray, but he may also have yellow and bright orange, rarely dark brown zones. The overall picture he looks grainy, sometimes distributed unevenly colored and shows parallel gray striations. In the main mass is a calcitic marble. Dolomite occurs secondary to the outcrops of Sinatengrün and Göpfersgrün.
The yellow and brown tints resulting from small amounts of minerals of Limonitkomplexes. Low Hämatitanteile create a strong orange cast. As more accessory ingredients occur muscovite and zircon. In the quarries of Sinatengrün and in Thiersheim and Hohenberg an der Eger come as more mineral constituents from olivine, serpentine, chlorite, antigorite and forsterite. The marble goes on in there ophicalcite.
In the northern areas of the deposit the crystals have an average size of 5 millimeters. Chance occur aggregates up to 2 cm. In the southern belt it is, however, at 0.2 millimeters. The calcite crystals occur idiomorphic up xenomorph.
History
The relative Kalkarmut the Upper Franconian countryside the marble deposits to Wunsiedel were already known and in demand in the Middle Ages as Kalkgewinnungsort. There are limestone quarries dating from the 14th century known, who also provided a building material for the walls of Wunsiedel next building lime. Typical arts and crafts applications are keystones, commemorative plaques, grave stones, epitaphs and votive tablets and other artistic works. Especially from the 16th to the mid-18th century, he was for this purpose application.
As 1724 in Bayreuth, a penitentiary was built, a manufactory for stone processing took there with prisoners as cheap labor to work on. It was processed in parallel with other rocks from the region of Wunsiedler marble on a large scale. This practice was not uncommon at that time; also in prison at Castle Diez Lahn marbles were processed under similar circumstances.
In the 1890s, very strongly developed in the region, the industrial lime quarries. It Kalkmehle and chippings for different uses in other industries were produced. The stone processing resigned to these developments because the coarsely crystalline varieties are not very suitable for artisanal and artistic editing. Only the small crystalline varieties with dolomite units allow for a good stonemason processing. At present (2008) is supported only in a bright marble Holenbrunn, which is sold as a stone and for horticultural purposes.
Applications
The rock has been described primarily as Wunsiedler marble in trade. Only subordinate occurred in the 20th century at a time other trade names such as German White and German Green.
The determination of objects made of white marble, for example, to Munich cemeteries is difficult because very often to Bavaria Laas marble and Sterzinger marble was also introduced. Due to the near-surface weathering on exposed objects are sometimes significant fine structures impossible or very difficult to see. A distinction is made very difficult.
In modern times, the rock for solid components, monuments, wall and floor coverings, as well as for garden architecture and decorative chippings has been in demand.
Application Examples
Wunsiedel
- Cemetery, grave plates
- City hall, floor covering
- Courtyard design of primary and secondary school ( extension )
- Paving in the courtyard of the Fichtelgebirge Museum
- Bust of Friedrich Müller in the professional school for stone processing and in the courtyard of the Fichtelgebirge Museum
Bad Alexandersbad
- Bust Queen Louise and Mark Graf Alexander
Fuchsmühl
- Sanctuary Mariahilf, Flooring