Flint fields (german: Feuersteinfelder) are large natural deposits of flint. They are found in numerous Jurassic and Cretaceous beds across the whole of Europe.''Breege''
at www.ruegenurlaub.de. Retrieved 19 Jun 2019 Such deposits may be found in

Aachen Aachen ( ; ; Aachen dialect: ''Oche'' ; French and traditional English: Aix-la-Chapelle; or ''Aquisgranum''; nl, Aken ; Polish: Akwizgran) is, with around 249,000 inhabitants, the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 28th- ...

-Lousberg, Kleinkems,

Schernfeld Schernfeld is a municipality in the district of Eichstätt in Bavaria in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, a ...

, Osterberg bei Pfünz, Baiersdorf,

Abensberg Abensberg () is a town in the Lower Bavarian district of Kelheim, in Bavaria, Germany, lying around southwest of Regensburg, east of Ingolstadt, northwest of Landshut and north of Munich. It is situated on the river Abens, a tributary of the ...

- Arnhofen and Lengfeld as well as the German island of Rügen.

Flint fields on Rügen

The flint fields on Germany's biggest island, Rügen, between

Mukran Sassnitz (, before 1993 in german: Saßnitz) is a town on the Jasmund peninsula, Rügen Island, in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. The population as of 2012 was 9,498. Sassnitz is a well-known seaside resort and port town, and is ...

and Prora in the northern part of the heath of

Schmale Heide The Schmale Heide (literally "Narrow Heath") is a 9.5-kilometre-long and roughly 2-kilometre-wide bar between the Baltic seaside resort of Binz and the village of Neu Mukran near Sassnitz on the German island of Rügen. It lies in the municipali ...

are part of the

Stone Fields in the Schmale Heath and Extension The Stone Fields in the Schmale Heath and Extension (german: Steinfelder in der Schmalen Heide und Erweiterung) is a nature reserve (Naturschutzgebiet), 199 hectares in area, on the German island of Rügen in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. ...

nature reserve. They were also called the ''Steinernes Meer'' ("stony sea") and have an area of 40 hectares (2,000 × 200 metres). During a series of

storm flood A storm surge, storm flood, tidal surge, or storm tide is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water commonly associated with low-pressure weather systems, such as cyclones. It is measured as the rise in water level above the no ...

s, 3,500 to 4,000 years ago, the stones, from the Cretaceous deposits on the

Jasmund Jasmund is a peninsula of the island of Rügen in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is connected to the Wittow peninsula and to the Muttland main section of Rügen by the narrow land bridges Schaabe and Schmale Heide, respectively. Sassnitz, Saga ...

peninsula which had been broken up by the sea, were piled up here. The layer of flints is so thick that it does not allow more than a sparse vegetation layer. In 1840 the ''Schmale Heide'' was planted with a pine wood, which surrounds the flint fields today. Since 1935, when the region was given conservation status, many trees, bushes and other plant species have been able to develop undisturbed. By the middle of the 19th century and, for the last time in the mid-1970s to the early 1990s, attempts were made to protect the 14 open flint embankments from becoming overgrown, using perimeter fencing in places and introducing wildlife. The flint fields are a well-known tourist destination (). They cannot be accessed directly by car. Car travellers can park for a fee in the car park at the southern end of Neu Mukran and follow the two to three kilometre trail. The area can be reached by bicycle also from the south. The route to the southern end of the flint fields is a well maintained and picturesque woodland path which branches off () the old B 196a federal road immediately north of the caravan park (former traffic testing area). The nearest railway stop is Prora, around 2½ kilometres south of the area and five hundred metres south of the traffic testing area.

References

External links

{{Commonscat-inline, Flint fields Flint (rock) de:Feuersteinfelder