The Königstein is a 189 m high hill in the northern Harz Foreland in the German state of

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt ( ; ) is a States of Germany, state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.17 million inhabitants, making it the List of German states ...

. It is also known as the ''Kamelfelsen'' ("Camel Rocks") due to its unusually shaped

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

rock formation.

Location and area

The Königstein lies in the northern Harz Foreland, northwest of

Westerhausen Westerhausen is a village and a former municipality in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 September 2010, it is part of the town Thale Thale () is a town in the Harz (district), Harz district in Saxony-Anhalt in central G ...

(near

Quedlinburg Quedlinburg () is a town situated just north of the Harz mountains, in the Harz (district), district of Harz in the west of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. As an influential and prosperous trading centre during the early Middle Ages, Quedlinburg becam ...

) on the road towards Börnecke. Its neighbouring hill to the northwest is the 178 m high ''Jätchenberg''. The federal road B 6n runs by to the north. The Königstein is a ridge running from northwest to southeast. Its northeastern flank is relatively steep, but its southwestern slopes fall away much more gently. It is mostly covered in deciduous forest.Bundesamt für Kartographie und Geodäsie, Landesamt für Vermessung und Geoinformation Sachsen-Anhalt: Digitale Topographische Karte 1:50 000
Sachsen-Anhalt Viewer
, accessed on 29 November 2010 (German) The vineyard on the southern slopes of the Königstein belongs to the Saale-Unstrut wine-growing area. The crest of the ridge is dominated by the striking ''Kamelfelsen'' rocks, whose name derives from their shape: seen from the south or north they are supposed to resemble two camels lying down.

The ''Kamelfelsen''

The ''Kamelfelsen'' consist of hardened sandstone, which also has very soft and crumbly sections. This rock formation, like the well-known Teufelsmauer, was created as a result of the formation of the

fault-block mountain Fault blocks are very large blocks of rock, sometimes hundreds of kilometres in extent, created by Tectonics, tectonic and localized stresses in Crust (geology), Earth's crust. Large areas of bedrock are broken up into blocks by Fault (geology) ...

s of the

Harz The Harz (), also called the Harz Mountains, is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' der ...

and the earth movements in the northern Harz Foreland resulting from it. Like the nearby Teufelsmauer, the Königstein is a "rib" of harder rock (''Schichtrippe'') from the

Lower Cretaceous Lower may refer to: * ''Lower'' (album), 2025 album by Benjamin Booker * Lower (surname) * Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) * Lower Wick Gloucestershire, England See also * Nizhny {{Disambiguation ...

. The Königstein was first placed under protection as a geological feature in 1932 and has been registered as a

natural monument A natural monument is a natural or cultural feature of outstanding or unique value because of its inherent rarity, representative of aesthetic qualities, or cultural significance. They can be natural geological and geographical features such as w ...

since 1997. There are several climbing routes on the ''Kamelfelsen'' up to climbing grade VIIIb (Saxon grading).

History

The Königstein was probably used during the

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...

as a cult site, and Germanic

summer solstice The summer solstice or estival solstice occurs when one of Earth's poles has its maximum tilt toward the Sun. It happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere ( Northern and Southern). The summer solstice is the day with the longest peri ...

celebrations may have taken place here,. The "sun discs" (''Sonnenräder'') on the rocks - circular shapes cut into the rock, about 1 metre or more in diameter which are distributed around the lower part of the rocks on their northern side - are artifacts resulting from the production of

millstone Millstones or mill stones are stones used in gristmills, used for triturating, crushing or, more specifically, grinding wheat or other grains. They are sometimes referred to as grindstones or grinding stones. Millstones come in pairs: a s ...

s. There are also several archaeological sites in the immediate vicinity. The last important find was made during the construction of the German federal road B 6n which runs close by the site.

References

External links

The Königstein near Westerhausen
at harzlife.de {{DEFAULTSORT:Konigstein Harz (district) Mountains and hills of Saxony-Anhalt Hills of the Harz Natural monuments in Saxony-Anhalt Rock formations of the Harz Rock formations of Saxony-Anhalt