Breiter Stein am Borgberg

Hagen am Teutoburger Wald

The 225 m high Borgberg consists mainly of sandstone, which was formed as sedimentary rock around 130 million years ago in the Lower Cretaceous period.

Mound graves on the ridge path and a former large Bronze Age burial mound ("Hünenhövel") on Kasselmanns Esch provide evidence of a prehistoric settlement in the vicinity of the Borgberg, which was first mentioned in a document in 1553 (1553 "Buerberg", 1595 "Borgberg").

Medieval overexploitation through logging, excessive grazing and plaggenmat destroy the forests until only heather, rubble and sand cover the Borgberg; sandstone is extracted in quarries (e.g. for the church in Hagen and the cathedral in Osnabrück). Dune-like sand drifts form; in other places, erosion exposes larger sandstone rocks, such as the Duvensteine (1592 "Sanct Johans Rasten") and the sandstone rock located here, which used to serve as a boundary marker and was named "Breiter Stein" (1785) due to its shape.

From around 1800, targeted reforestation of the Borgberg begins.

When urns from pre-Christian times were found during the destruction of the burial mound on Kasselmann's Esch in 1880, the imagination blossomed - the "Broad Stone" became "a rock slab from which sacrifices to Wodan and his wife Freya are said to have been made more frequently in pre-Christian times" (H. Wegmann 1917). The term "pagan sacrificial stone" quickly became established. However, it is more than doubtful whether the rock is actually a prehistoric cult site. Instead, the "Broad Stone" should be seen for what it is: an interesting geological relic that has been uncovered by the overexploitation and erosion of earlier centuries. And a wonderful resting place for hikers.

Source: Hagen a.T.W. local history association

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Schulstraße 7
49170 Hagen am Teutoburger Wald
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