Riesenstein (Wolfershausen)

51.19289.444167Koordinaten: 51 ° 11 ' 34.1 "N, 9 ° 26' 39" E The giant stone of Wolfershausen is a megalith on the north bank of the Eder Felsberger district Wolfershausen in the Schwalm -Eder -Kreis. Among the standing stones in the Kassel - Fritzlarer space of the giant stone of Wolfershausen is the largest.

Geology

The tertiary quartzite plate has a height and width of four meters is 1 meter thick and weighs about 75,000 kg. The stone has an age of 65 million years ago and emerged at the end of the Cretaceous period. Its area is littered with volcanic ash, Lapillis and quartzite blocks. The accumulation of quartzite blocks suggests that the menhir was not transported to its present site over a longer distance, but that he was promoted in the immediate vicinity of its current location as a magmatic material from the Earth's interior by a volcanic dome to the surface.

History

The menhir was used in the 3rd millennium BC by a group of farmers as a Neolithic cult place: in archaeological excavations were discovered at its foot human skeletal remains from the Neolithic period. In the Middle Ages the menhir was awarded healing and fertility -giving effect. In 1615 he was mentioned as the Great Stone.

Saga

Even the Menhir of Wolfershausen the popular story of the stone -throw of a giant is told. The living on the nearby Lotterberg giant Lothar threw the stone at the fleeing giant Cunibert, who had tried to kidnap Tommy's beloved Nagate to the Holy Mountain. The stone remained in Lothar's hanging sleeves and hit on a field north of the Eder.