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Neustadt an der Aisch-Bad Windsheim

Illesheim

Fingalshöhle Sandstone Quarry

Neustadt an der Aisch-Bad Windsheim

Illesheim

Fingalshöhle Sandstone Quarry

Highlight • Historical Site

Fingalshöhle Sandstone Quarry

Name: Fingalshöhle Sandstone Quarry
Rating: 2

Recommended by 46 hikers

This Highlight is in a protected area

Please check local regulations for: Naturpark Frankenhöhe

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Location: Illesheim, Neustadt an der Aisch-Bad Windsheim, Middle Franconia, Bavaria, Germany

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Best Hikes to Fingalshöhle Sandstone Quarry

4.4

(9)

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1. Fingalshöhle Sandstone Quarry – Obernzenner See loop from Urphertshofen

5.76km

01:31

60m

Easy hike. Great for any fitness level. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels.

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Easy

5.0

(3)

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2. The Spinnerin Field Monument – Fingalshöhle Sandstone Quarry loop from Oberdachstetten

13.0km

03:29

150m

Intermediate hike. Good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels.

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Intermediate

4.5

(2)

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3. Summit Cross Petersberg – Summit Cross on Petersberg loop from Oberdachstetten

20.4km

05:28

250m

Expert hike. Very good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels.

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Tips

Karsten eBike

December 7, 2021

If you come from Obernzenn in the direction of Sontheim on the hill to the left into the so-called "Panzerstraße" and after another 200 meters follow a narrow path into the forest, you will look in vain for a real cave. There is an abandoned sandstone quarry that tells an interesting story.

The dark red reed sandstone of the quarry has provided fragments for foundations and half-timbering, ashlars for walls, door and gate posts, window frames and much more over centuries, well into the Aisch Valley.

There are inscriptions in the sandstone of the Fingals Cave. Names of the Seckendorff, Guttenberg, Truchseß and others with dates from the last decades of the 18th and the first of the 19th century. Why? With the approaching period of romanticism, a sentimental turn to nature developed, for which one had hardly anything in mind before. People liked to move out to an idyllic place to go out into the country. For this, the Obernzenner castle residents and their guests were offered the romantic quarry area under the canopy of oaks, lime trees and beeches. As a memento, the name and year were engraved on the smoothed rock walls.

Two French inscriptions fall out of the box. They refer to the American War of Independence 1776-83 and the French Period 1806-10. The memorial inscription for Hauptmann von Erckert was probably arranged by Adam Erckert, who was in the service of the Obernzenner Seckendorff at this time. Of course, the language of the rulers and the educated circles of the time, French, was chosen for the inscription.

(Source: Heimatbuch “Leben in Obernzenn and its districts once and now” and “The Fingals Cave in Sontheimer Holz” - a contribution by the Federal Nature Conservation Association, local group Bad Windsheim, on local history)

Translated by Google •

Antje und Klaus auf Tour 👣

October 15, 2022

The Fingals Cave is an abandoned sandstone quarry near Obernzenn.
The red reed sandstone from the quarry was used for numerous buildings right into the Aisch valley. Among other things, the city fortifications of Bad Windsheim were built from this stone.
After sandstone was no longer mined at this point, the cut in the terrain served as a hiding place for the population during the Thirty Years' War and the Napoleonic campaigns, or as a camp for the military. In addition, the wildly romantic place developed into a popular excursion destination for 18th and 19th century society, especially for the residents of the Obernzenner castles and their guests. Numerous inscriptions scratched into the stone walls, which are up to five meters high, are reminiscent of former visitors and events.
In addition to the German-language inscriptions, there are also some in French. One of them refers to the American War of Independence in the years 1776 to 1783. The commemorative inscription for Captain von Erckert, who fell in America in 1777, is probably by Adam Erckert. Captain von Erckert led a company of the subsidy troops of Margrave Alexander von Ansbach. The inscription of a French gunner from 1806, on the other hand, was created when Obernzenn was the Imperial French headquarters for several months.

Translated by Google •

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Details

Informations

Elevation 450 m

Weather

Today

Tuesday 28 October

11°C

8°C

100 %

If you start your activity now...

Max wind speed: 21.0 km/h

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Location: Illesheim, Neustadt an der Aisch-Bad Windsheim, Middle Franconia, Bavaria, Germany

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Fingalshöhle Sandstone Quarry

1. Fingalshöhle Sandstone Quarry – Obernzenner See loop from Urphertshofen

2. The Spinnerin Field Monument – Fingalshöhle Sandstone Quarry loop from Oberdachstetten

3. Summit Cross Petersberg – Summit Cross on Petersberg loop from Oberdachstetten

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