Strange Millstones quarry at Hinterhoer Germany

Strange Millstones quarry at Hinterhoer Germany, as if a enornous tubular drilling. But i think - not ! Unusual a little-known very long and labor-intensive process of stone processing. From the 1489 AD till the 19th century sandstones of the Helvetism were diminished by hand as Millstones at Hinterhoer. They were used in the mills in the wide vicinity as under- or groundstones. Today the stone quarry with its typical dismantling tracks still is an impressive monument of the economic history and history of technology in the area of Neubeuren. During the Alpine origin in the chalk and tertiary as a result of the collision of the European and the Adriatic plate it came to a strong constriction of the rock layers. Besides, rock packages broke and became tectonic “covers“ extensively pushed about one other. In upper Bavaria the tectonic covers of the lime-alpine zone form the morphologically striking Bavarian high-level alps. In their north edge they become of the regional often not very clearly appearing other tectonic construction units which accompanies Flysch-and the Helvetism zone. The depositions with Neubeuren belong to the Helvetism zone which seems in Upper Bavaria only in a very narrow stripe. They received their name from the Swiss Alps, because this tectonic unity becomes broader and broader and higher to the west in the Allgau and Vorarlberg and takes, finally, in Switzerland (“Helvetia“) a big area. As main rocks of the Helvetism you can find lime- and marl-stones which are interrupted by sand and siltstones. The series originated in the south edge of the European continent in a level shelf sea. With Neubeuren open rocks deposited in the uppermost chalk and in the oldtertiary age. Millsandstone of Hinterhoer A blind scale construction and a rock formation quickly changing on narrow space hardly allow a reconstruction of the exact deposition relations of the Helvetism at Neubeuren. As a deposition area one supposes a shallow sea flooded with islands. Into this rivers flowed from the mainland which formed area-wise sandy fields, while besides at the same time limestones originated. An example of a so local sand embankment is the Millsandstone which was quarried here in the stone quarry Hinterhoer during three centuries. Only at Hinterhoer it reaches a thickness of 28 metres, where in the stone quarry of Altenbeuren it only shows eight metres of thickness, in other outcrops it is substituted completely with rocks richer in lime. The Millsandstone is a grey medium to coarse grained sandstone from well circular quartz and feldspar punches which are cemented with calcareous binding agent. In the fresh state the stone turned out exceedingly tough and hard and was desired, hence, as a millstone very much. Because the sandstone layer occurs in the break precipitously after the south, it forms a surplus which was hollowed out by the working area even further. Extraction of the Millstones The stone quarry Hinterhoer was “whipped“ in 1489 AD, till 1860 Millstones were won there. Mathias Flurl described in 1792 in his “description of the mountains of Bavaria and the upper Palatinate“ the special technology which the workers helped themselves with the dismantling of the Millstones of hand: “The production of the same is very laborious for the local workers and is dangerous, and if very easy means by spraying of these stones did not provide them marvellous services, they would hardly be in the state to bring the pieces largely enough from the place. After they have broken an adequately deep notch in the mountains with the iron, they drove wooden wedges in it, and pour them with water as long, as the swollen wood sprinkles the rock under a terribly crashing noise.“ Before the evacuation the stone was still hewn and provided with the shafthole. Then the extremely laborious transport of the heavy stones followed to the Inn where they were loaded onto barges. The close situation to the river on which the stones could be shipped and be traded with it allowed a nearly 300 year-old existence to the millstone quarry Hinterhoer. The treatment tracks of the roundlings are clear to recognise even today on the wall of the millstone quarry and thus the left open stone quarry presents itself as an impressive monument of the former millstone production.