Sandstone Formations of Bucksche Schweiz

A particularly attractive hiking area is the “Bucksche Schweiz” near Hohenbocka. There is a gem here, hardened glass sand as solid sandstone. There is an approximately 25 meter high observation tower on the Possenberg east of Hohenbocka. From here you can overlook Hohenbocka Switzerland. At the foot of the tower a path leads to the sandstone cliffs at Heinrichsschacht, which are well worth seeing. They earned the area the nickname Switzerland because they resemble Saxon Switzerland in miniature. They are made of hardened glass sand which has been mined here since the 19th century. The white Hohenbocka glass sand was created around 16 million years ago from the beach and dunes of a shallow sea. The mined sand is used in the production of glass, for example for architectural and lighting glass.

The natural monument covers 3 hectares. The bizarre two- to three-meter-high sandstone cliffs made of hardened glass sand provide an ideal picnic spot. They are reminiscent of the rock formations in Saxon Switzerland. The fine quartz sand has been mined in the area since the 19th century and used to produce colorless glass.

The Bucksche Schweiz or Hohenbockaer Schweiz is a 2.97 ha large natural monument (FND) in the Oberspreewald-Lausitz district in the south of Brandenburg. In the south of the Lusatian lignite mining area, very pure quartz sands are found beneath the Second Lusatian Seam, which were deposited there about 16 million years ago (Lower Miocene) as dune, beach or delta sands.[3] Since the first mining contract in 1857, the Hohenbocka glass sands, which are particularly poor in iron (III) oxide, became known worldwide in the following decades for the production of colorless and optical glasses.[3] Between Hohenbocka and Guteborn, silicification of the glass sands occurred in numerous narrow places, which today form the striking rock formation of the Bucksche Schweiz at the former Heinrichsschacht sand pit.