The Externsteine
Germany /
Nordrhein-Westfalen /
Horn-Bad Meinberg /
World
/ Germany
/ Nordrhein-Westfalen
/ Horn-Bad Meinberg
World / Germany / Nordrhein-Westfalen / Detmold
amusement ride, rocks, stone, formation, cliff, natural monument
The Externsteine (51°52′8″N, 8°55′3″E) are a distinctive rock formation located in the Teutoburger Wald region of northwestern Germany, not far from the city of Detmold at Horn-Bad Meinberg. The formation consists of several tall, narrow columns of rock which rise abruptly from the surrounding wooded hills. The name probably means "stones of the Egge".
Geologically, the formation consists of a hard, erosion-resistant sandstone, laid down during the early Cretaceous era, about 120 million years ago.
It is generally assumed that Externsteine was a center of religious activity for the Teutonic peoples and their predecessors prior to the arrival of Christianity in northern Europe. This notion can be traced back to Hermann Hamelmann (1564).
The last Heathen inhabitants of the region were Saxons until their defeat and conversion by Charlemagne. Charlemagne is reported to have destroyed the Saxon Irminsul in 772; and Wilhelm Teudt in the 1920s suggested that the location of the Irminsul had been at the Externsteine. In 1933 Teudt joined the NSDAP and proposed to turn the Externsteine into a "sacred grove" for the commemoration of the ancestors.
Heinrich Himmler was open to the idea and in 1933 initiated and then presided over the "Externstein Foundation". Interest in the location was furthered by the Nazi Ahnenerbe division within the SS, who studied the stones for their value to Germanic folklore and history.
Geologically, the formation consists of a hard, erosion-resistant sandstone, laid down during the early Cretaceous era, about 120 million years ago.
It is generally assumed that Externsteine was a center of religious activity for the Teutonic peoples and their predecessors prior to the arrival of Christianity in northern Europe. This notion can be traced back to Hermann Hamelmann (1564).
The last Heathen inhabitants of the region were Saxons until their defeat and conversion by Charlemagne. Charlemagne is reported to have destroyed the Saxon Irminsul in 772; and Wilhelm Teudt in the 1920s suggested that the location of the Irminsul had been at the Externsteine. In 1933 Teudt joined the NSDAP and proposed to turn the Externsteine into a "sacred grove" for the commemoration of the ancestors.
Heinrich Himmler was open to the idea and in 1933 initiated and then presided over the "Externstein Foundation". Interest in the location was furthered by the Nazi Ahnenerbe division within the SS, who studied the stones for their value to Germanic folklore and history.
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Externsteine
Nearby cities:
Coordinates: 51°52'8"N 8°55'2"E