This is a list of erratics on and around Rügen – the largest island off the Baltic coast of Germany. An erratic is usually defined (in Germany) as an individual block of

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

lying on the surface of the land which has a volume of at least one

cubic metre The cubic metre (in Commonwealth English and international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures) or cubic meter (in American English) is the unit of volume in the International System of Units (SI). Its symbol is m ...

and which was transported by a glacier to its present site during the

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 gree ...

. Before the establishment of ice age theories, many stories and legends were woven around the giant "erratic blocks" of rock. On

Rügen Rügen (; la, Rugia, ) is Germany's largest island. It is located off the Pomeranian coast in the Baltic Sea and belongs to the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The "gateway" to Rügen island is the Hanseatic city of Stralsund, where ...

, there are a lot of interesting large erratics due to the particular location of the island during the ice ages and due to continuous

coastal erosion Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of waves, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts of storms. The landward ...

. In the New Stone Age people built megalithic tombs out of erratics. On Rügen many of these have survived. Until the 19th century large erratics were used as quarries, in order to produce construction material for monuments (e. g. in 1854 the Prussia Columns near Neukamp and Groß Stresow or for the Ernst Moritz Arndt Tower on the

Rugard The Rugard, at , is the highest elevation in the central region of the German Baltic Sea island of Rügen. This push end moraine was formed in the last ice age and lies on the northeastern perimeter of the town of Bergen auf Rügen. There was p ...

, for coastal and

harbour A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...

defences,

cobblestone Cobblestone is a natural building material based on cobble-sized stones, and is used for pavement roads, streets, and buildings. Setts, also called Belgian blocks, are often casually referred to as "cobbles", although a sett is distinct fro ...

s and

millstone Millstones or mill stones are stones used in gristmills, for grinding wheat or other grains. They are sometimes referred to as grindstones or grinding stones. Millstones come in pairs: a convex stationary base known as the ''bedstone'' and ...

s. Many erratics fell victim to the development of Rügen. Today erratics are seen as natural monuments that are worth keeping and have a greater significance. Data on the largest erratics on Rügen is given in the table below. Further information may be found on the individual article pages.

General

On the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

island of Rügen and in its immediate vicinity there are a lot of particularly large erratics. There are two reasons for this. On the one hand, Rügen (especially 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) was the ice divide between the Belt and the Oderstrom glaciers of the Weichselian glaciation and, as a result, a band of debris typical of a

medial moraine A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a glacier or ice shee ...

developed here. On the other hand, erratics have been exposed by coastal erosion (especially by the action of breakers) and may be found on beaches at the foot of

sea cliff Seacliff or Sea Cliff or Sea Cliffe may refer to: ;Places ''Australia'' *Seacliff, South Australia, suburb of Adelaide *Seacliff Park, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide *Sea Cliff Bridge, in Illawarra, New South Wales ''New Zealand'' *Seacli ...

s. They were deposited here over the course of time from the layer of

glacial till image:Geschiebemergel.JPG, Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as ''matrix support'', is d ...

that was deposited in many places on top of the thick layer of chalk during the ice age. The main direction of the glacial stream came from the island of

Bornholm Bornholm () is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea, to the east of the rest of Denmark, south of Sweden, northeast of Germany and north of Poland. Strategically located, Bornholm has been fought over for centuries. It has usually been ruled by ...

, relatively close by, which is why several of the larger erratics on Rügen come from there. Erratics, whose area of origin can be determined from their internal structure and composition, are called indicator stones. The origin can be determined by information in the literature on glacial drifts, but also determined by comparison with samples from the bedrock. For Rügen there is a ''Nordic Collection'' at the Ernst Moritz Arndt University of Greifswald. By determining the origin of these large boulders, the directions of the individual glacial streams may be determined. Such erratics on Rügen, which are made of crystalline and metamorphic rock, that have a minimum volume of 10 m³ belong to the legally protected

geotope A geotope is the geological component of the abiotic matrix present in an ecotope. Example geotopes might be an exposed outcrop of rocks, an erratic boulder, a grotto or ravine, a cave, an old stone wall marking a property boundary, and so forth. ...

s on the island.Landesamt für Umwelt, Naturschutz und Geologie Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
erratics For most erratics, however the volume cannot be exactly worked out, because they are normally partly embedded in the ground. The sizes given in the list are based on estimates by the majority of geologists given in their publications. In addition the list shows the estimated above-ground volumes; the below-ground element is not recorded. The approximation factor of 0.6 is based on experience and accounts for the usual difference in volume from a rectangular block.

Table

¹⁾ Measurement based on the above-ground element based on the formula "length × width × height × 0.6 " (0.6 is an approximation factor)
²⁾ The legally-protected geotopes in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern are indexed by the State Office for the Environment, Conservation and Geology (''Landesamt für Umwelt, Naturschutz und Geologie'') in a land registry. They are designated with the prefix "G2" followed by their individual index number.

Erratics on land

File:Findling Nardevitz 4.jpg, The Nardevitz Erratic File:Siebenschneiderstein.jpg, The

Siebenschneiderstein The Siebenschneiderstein (''Söbenschniedersteen''glacial erratic">''Findling Söbenschniederst.'' at www.umweltkarten.mv-regierung.de. Retrieved 20 Jun 2019.) is a glacial erratic on the island of Rügen. It lies about 22 metres away from t ...

File:Findling Jastor.jpg, The Jastor near

Saßnitz 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 ...

Erratics in the water

File:Buskam2009.jpg, The Buskam near Göhren File:Findling Blandow 1.jpg, The Blandow Erratic near Blandow (parish of

Lohme Lohme is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Rügen district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe aft ...

) File:Uskam.jpg, The Uskam off

File:Fritz-Worm-Stein.JPG, The Fritz Worm Rock off

Lobbe Lobbe is a surname which may refer to: * Carlos Ignacio Fernández Lobbe (born 20 November 1974), Argentine rugby union footballer *Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe (born 19 November 1981 in Buenos Aires) is an Argenti ...

General

Table

Erratics on land

Erratics in the water

See also