<< Our Photo Pages >> Lindenstein - Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature in Germany in North Rhine-Westphalia
Submitted by Harald_Platta on Friday, 06 February 2015 Page Views: 2403
Natural PlacesSite Name: Lindenstein Alternative Name: Ückendorfer Kieseling, Lindelstein, HünensteinCountry: Germany
NOTE: This site is 1.496 km away from the location you searched for.
Land: North Rhine-Westphalia Type: Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature
Nearest Town: Gelsenkirchen
Latitude: 51.492344N Longitude: 7.117767E
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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Maria Weinand has suggested that the Lindenstein had been used as a holy stone, on which animals were sacrificed from the Neolithic age to the Bonze Age. A similar function has been put forward for the Horkenstein in Hattingen and the Brunstein in Bochum. Both stones exhibit a deep furrow ("blood furrow“). The Lindenstein has a shallow groove at its top, which continues downward over ist rear side. This groove may possibly be a natural feature of this stone.
It has been reported that the Lindenstein was standing on the village square of Ãœckendorf (now part of Gelsenkirchen) at least since the Middle Ages. Because it was located next to the linden tree there, it was called Lindenstein ("linden tree stone"). The Lindenstein marked the assembly point for the farmers. Until the 18 th century this place served as a court for the farmer judges (today`s Ãœckendorfer Platz).
When the village square was paved with cobble stones, the Lindenstein was moved to the old deanery (Ziegelstrasse). The last dean, Carl von Wedelstaed, initiated the construction of a muncipal park in 1898, which was named after him (Von-Wedelstaed-Park). The Lindenstein was placed near the entrance on the way to the lake, where it has been standing ever since.
The Lindenstein is closely connected to the old legend of the giants of Mechtenberg and Tippelsberg. The Mechtenberg (in today`s Gelsenkirchen/Essen/Bochum-Wattenscheid) and the Tippelsberg (in today`s Bochum-Riemke) are two mountains in the Ruhr valley – a region, where mountains are rare. According to this legend, the giant of Mechtenberg and the giant of Tippelsberg were friends that came together regularly in order to bake bread. When it was time to bake new bread, they were alternating between the two mountains. The sign was the following: one of the giants would scratch the inside of the metallic hod, which made a sound like thunder. Then, the other giant would break his last bread and would come over.
However, one day the giant of Mechtenberg would scratch his own back, which made a similar noise. The giant of Tippelsberg came over and got angy, because the oven was not on. Then, the giant of Tippelsberg threw a big stone at the giant of Mechtenberg, who was running in the direction of Ãœckendorf. Fortunately, the stone missed the giant of Mechtenberg. The stone stayed in Ãœckendorf and became known as Lindenstein or Ãœckendorfer Kieseling.
The legend was written down for the first time by Johann Matthias Firmenich in 1843. Other versions are included in the collections of Maria Weinand (1950) and Dirk Sondermann (2004). Furthermore, the Lindenstein is one of the very few megalithic items that has been a subject for poetry. In 1909, Heinrich Kämpchen published the poem „Hünenstein“, which deals with the legend of the Lindenstein.
References:
[01] Stadt Gelsenkirchen: Naturdenkmal Nr.5. In: Landschaftsplan Satzung Planungsraum 13 Rotthausen / Ãœckendorf.
[02] Sondermann, D.: Die Riesen von Mechtenberg und Tippelsberg. Bochumer Sagenbuch. (2004)
[03] Weinand, M.: Essener Sagenbuch. (1950)
[04] Firmenich, J.M.: Germaniens Völkerstimmen. (1843)
[05] Kämpchen, K.: Der Hünenstein. In: Was die Ruhr mir sang. Gedichte. (1909)
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