A monolithic stone stands upright in the green field from a far distance while driving through a little town. The mysterious object on earth raised our curiousity. Let us go and investigate this megalith:
The long menhir called "Wotanstein" is located somewhere near the village of Maden in Hesse, Germany:
The entrance lures visitors to come and touch the ancient stone in hope of getting back to the past or enter to the unknown space like in the films or television shows. In reality, the excavation started during the period of the seven years' war (1756-1763) due to the rumor that the treasure buried underneath this stone. Unfortunately, no treasure had been found except human bones. The analysis of the stone shows that the stone is not the local stone and it is erected around 3rd BC as the comparison with the same components of the largest menhir that was found previoulsy in the town nearby called "Riesenstein" in Wolfershausen. The age of the megalith after the geological analysis of the components tells us that it is Neogene Miocene quartzite around 8-23 million years ago.
There are few stories and theories related to this stone. An assumption that it was raised by the ancient Germanic tribe called "Chatti" that lived there around the 1st BC. It could be the worship place of their God "Odin" as they called it "Wodan" or "Wotan". It sounds possibly right as its name at the entrance to this menhir:
A legend says that devil tried to destroy the church and it fell on this location as it deflected from the shied of Saint Michael. The devil left the marks on the stone known as the devil's claws:
You need to use your imagination in order to see the marks like the claws. According to the archaeological site report, the full size of this megalith is longer because the half of the stone is what you see above ground. The mass or the weight of this menhir is roughly close to the stonehenge, but smaller due to the density of the quartzite. It is amazing to know that humans from all over the world enjoyed moving stone to upright position in the ancient time. No matter who took it there and what purpose it was. Mystery is fun, isn't it?
