The Bernstein is a mountain, , in the

Northern Black Forest The Northern Black Forest (german: Nordschwarzwald) refers to the northern third of the Black Forest in Germany or, less commonly today, to the northern half of this mountain region. Geography The Northern Black Forest is bounded in the north b ...

within the borough of

Gaggenau Gaggenau is a town in the district of Rastatt, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located some 8 km northeast of Baden-Baden. History Gaggenau was first mentioned in local records in 1243 under the name "Gaggenaw". The present distric ...

(estate of Rotenfels), and the borough of

Bad Herrenalb Bad Herrenalb is a municipality in the district of Calw, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated in the northern Black Forest, 15 km east of Baden-Baden, and 22 km southwest of Pforzheim. The town is connected to the city of K ...

, (estate of Bernbach). It is part of the ridge that borders the lower Murg valley on its eastern side. The summit of this mountain is formed by a six-metre-high crag made of bunter sandstone with a flat top, 25 m² in area, from where there are good views.

Name

The origin of the first part of the name, ''Bern'', is the

Old High German Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050. There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old High ...

word, ''bero'', which meant "bear". Bears lived in the Northern Black Forest until the

Late Middle Ages The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Europe, the Renai ...

. ''Stein'' ("rock") refers to block of rock that forms the summit.

Natural monument

The ''Bernsteinfels'' crag and its surrounding area were declared a

natural monument A natural monument is a natural or natural/cultural feature of outstanding or unique value because of its inherent rarity, representative of aesthetic qualities or cultural significance. Under World Commission on Protected Areas guidelines, na ...

on 5 Nov 2007 by the towns of Gaggenau and Bad Herrenalb due to its rock formations, which are unique in the region, and its geological-tectonic and natural importance, and were given protected area number 82160150001 by the Regierungspräsidium Freiburg.

Geology

Geologically the origins of the Bernstein go back to the

Lower Triassic The Early Triassic is the first of three epochs of the Triassic Period of the geologic timescale. It spans the time between Ma and Ma (million years ago). Rocks from this epoch are collectively known as the Lower Triassic Series, which is a un ...

, 240 million years ago. The summit block of this mountain consists of fissured Middle Bunter Sandstone. These mighty sandstone blocks are a consequence of the formation of the

Upper Rhine Graben The Upper Rhine Plain, Rhine Rift Valley or Upper Rhine Graben (German: ''Oberrheinische Tiefebene'', ''Oberrheinisches Tiefland'' or ''Oberrheingraben'', French: ''Vallée du Rhin'') is a major rift, about and on average , between Basel in the so ...

, whose sinking began about 50 million years ago. About 5 million years ago there was a marked uplifting and tilting of the edges of the graben. At that time the Bernstein crag was actually formed. Its present shape is the result of cold periods over the millennia of i.e.

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gre ...

s, that were interrupted by warm periods. The hollow spherical formations (''Kugelsandstein'') on the southwest and northeast faces of the Bernstein rock are the remaines of

geode A geode (; ) is a geological secondary formation within sedimentary and volcanic rocks. Geodes are hollow, vaguely spherical rocks, in which masses of mineral matter (which may include crystals) are secluded. The crystals are formed by the fill ...

s that were formed here once. They have nothing to do with Gletschermühlen or human influences, as has been repeatedly suggested.

Main rock

The main rock of the Bernstein has a volume of about 200 m³. It is accessible via a stone staircase made in 1864 and has extensive, far-reaching views. In clear weather the views extend far over the lower Murg valley, for example, to Strasbourg Minster, 54 km away, to the

Vosges The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single ...

60–120 km away, and the mountains of the Palatine Forest 45–75 km away. The visible length of the horsing is up to 180 km. On the main rock there is a 3-metre-high stone cross dating to 1877 and, since 1995, a semi-circular

toposcope A toposcope, topograph, or orientation table is a kind of graphic display erected at viewing points on hills, mountains or other high places which indicates the direction, and usually the distance, to notable landscape features which can be seen ...

made of steel. This provides information about the direction and distance of those places and mountains that are visible over a radius of 18 km and also several more distant locations such as

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

and the

Hornisgrinde The Hornisgrinde, 1,164 m (3,820 ft), is the highest mountain in the Northern Black Forest of Germany. The Hornisgrinde lies in northern Ortenaukreis district. Origin of the name The name is probably derived from Latin, and essential ...

as well as non-visible locations such as the Feldberg and

Mont Blanc Mont Blanc (french: Mont Blanc ; it, Monte Bianco , both meaning "white mountain") is the highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe, rising above sea level. It is the second-most prominent mountain in Europe, after Mount Elbrus, and ...

. It also gives the position of sunset on the visible horizon at the summer and

winter solstice The winter solstice, also called the hibernal solstice, occurs when either of Earth's poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sun. This happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere (Northern and Southern). For that hemisphere, the winter ...

s as well as at the

equinox A solar equinox is a moment in time when the Sun crosses the Earth's equator, which is to say, appears directly above the equator, rather than north or south of the equator. On the day of the equinox, the Sun appears to rise "due east" and se ...

es, with dates and times. In addition it gives the length of days (time between sunrise and sunset) in hours and minutes at the start of each season as well as the height of the midday sun (highest point of the sun during its visible trajectory) in degrees, also at the start of the seasons. In entirely other dimensions are given the average distance from the earth to the moon, the sun the orbit of the planet Pluto and the nearest star in km and light years as well as distances to the earth's interior.

Access

Several paths run up to the Bernstein. The two shortest are 3.5 kilometres long and run from Althof and Bernbach respectively (both in the borough of Bad Herrenalb), the longer and steeper routes run from Michelbach and Sulzbach (borough of Gaggenau) and from Gaggenau itself.

References

External links

The Bernstein on the ''Im Tal der Murg e.V.'' website
{{Authority control Mountains under 1000 metres Natural monuments in Germany Mountains and hills of Baden-Württemberg Mountains and hills of the Black Forest Rastatt (district) Calw (district)