The Externsteine
A cluster of tall sandstone pillars in a German forest holds carved chambers and a window aligned with the midsummer sunrise.
What was reported
The Externsteine are five sandstone pillars, up to about 40 metres tall, rising from the Teutoburg Forest. They were carved with chambers and stairs, and with a large relief of Christ being taken down from the cross, made around 1120.
A small chamber high on one pillar has a round window that lines up with sunrise at the summer solstice, which led to theories that it was a pre-Christian sanctuary.
Explanations offered
Archaeologists have found little evidence of pre-Christian use, and the carvings are medieval Christian work. In the 1930s the Nazis promoted it as an ancient Germanic shrine, a claim research doesn't support. Whether the window's alignment was intended is debated.
- When
- Carvings from about 1120
- Where
- Externsteine, near Horn-Bad Meinberg, Germany
- Witnesses
- Pilgrims, scholars and visitors
- Status
- Disputed
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