Lüneburg Kalkberg

Seen the Lüneburg limestone from the south

The limestone is a Gipshut in the western city of Lüneburg.

Geology

The Lüneburg limestone consists of gypsum (calcium sulfate) and emerged from sediments that were deposited here by the Zechstein Sea about 250 million years. Minor problems in recent geological epochs could merge the lighter Zechsteinsalze and rise from great depths in the younger overburden and thus in the vicinity of the present day surface. The adjoining the rising salt masses recent geological layers were deformed, broken and erect. The first horizontally deposited layers of salt have been found and verfaltet steeply in their ascent. Leached by ground water, remained close to the surface, only the less soluble constituents back, especially carbonates and sulfates. Sometimes outshine their occurrence, as here, the local ground surface.

The limestone has a height of 56.3 m above sea level, originally there were about 80 m. The vast majority of Kalkbergs was mined for centuries to use the plaster as a building material. Due to the exhaustion of the deposit and the increasing anhydrite content of the gypsum mining has been set in 1923. Of particular geological interest is the occurrence of Boracite and Lüneburgit. In addition, one finds anhydrite, calcite, gypsum, halite, hematite, Hydroglauberit, jarosite, Kalistronit, lepidocrocite, pyrite, quartz, sylvite, syngenite and thenardite.

A limestone mountain is also available in Bad Segeberg - see Segeberger limestone.

History

Until February 1371, a castle stood on the limestone mountain, was ruled out of the Principality of Lüneburg Brunswick. As part of the Lüneburg War of Succession the sovereign castle on the limestone mountain was destroyed as well as the nearby Benedictine monastery of St. Michael, which then moved to the city.

The obelisk at half height is reminiscent of the Garrison Church, which was built on the limestone mountain in 1663 for the Duke's troops and demolished due to disrepair in 1783.

The cannon on the top is of recent origin and was only fired when convicts had escaped from the nearby prison.

Conservation

F4

IUCN Category IV - Habitat-/Species Management Area

The Lüneburg Baurat Eduard Schlöbcke prevailed, that the rest of Kalkbergs 1932 one of the first nature reserves in Germany was. The former quarry is still recognizable by rugged cliffs. At the bottom of Kalkbergs a small wetland with reed beds and marsh zones exist. The rock walls have only a very sparse vegetation with animals and plants of the dry grassland communities. Covering an area of 3.6 hectares, 180 species of flowering plants settled, including some heat -, light-and lime-loving species that are otherwise located only in the southern Central Europe. Some smaller caves inhabited by bats.