Externsteine

1 - In Lippe, near the towns of Detmold and Horn-Bad Meinberg, several rugged rocks rise up from the landscape. There are 13 separate rocks in all, arranged in a line several hundred metres long. The tallest are about 40 metres high. They are called the Externsteine. These rocks have always captured people’s imaginations and influenced their lives. When Germanic tribes still lived in northern Germany, the rocks may have been used to worship their gods.

2 - About 900 years ago, an unknown sculptor carved a replica of the holy sites in Jerusalem into a rock. It depicts Jesus being taken down from the cross. The Virgin Mary, the Evangelist John, Christ’s tomb and the rock of Golgotha can also be seen. The sun and moon are cloaked in mourning.

3 - This depiction has survived through the centuries. The rocks themselves, however, are much older. 130 million years ago, when the dinosaurs were already extinct but humans had yet to appear, a sea covered what is now northern Germany. As in all seas, layers of sand and the remains of dead plants and fish settled on the seabed. The immense pressure of successive layers formed sandstone.

4 - Eventually, the sea receded. The Earth’s outermost layer, the crust, consists of several plates that push against each other. These are called tectonic plates. Their movement creates mountain ranges and volcanoes. This is how the present-day Teutoburg Forest was formed. About 80 million years ago, pressure from the tectonic plates pushed the sandstone layers into a vertical position. A rugged, jagged mountain range formed. Over millions of years, water, heat and frost caused weathering. The mountain peaks were worn down. What remained were ridges covered in dense forests.

5 - In some places, however, there were rocks made of harder stone than their surroundings. They resisted weathering better. They remained standing while the surrounding landscape gradually became flatter. This is how the Externsteine were formed.