ハーメルンの天然記念物・トップ20

Good footwear and sure-footedness are required, especially when it is damp... But the journey is worth it.

Very striking rock with a beautiful view. Also a great photo opportunity.

This is an interesting rock formation.

Nice place on the ridge path, especially if you know the history(s).

Easily overlooked. You have to walk towards Coppenbrügge

Legend 1: The Männekenstein is a huge dolomite rock above Bessingen and Bisperode in the crest of the Ithgebirge. According to legend, all sorts of "Männeken" lived there in ancient times, namely giants and dwarves. A mighty giant called “monk” is said to have lived up there; that's why many people like to call this rock "monk stone". Legend 2: Today the Männekenstein is also often called the "Mönchenstein". The rock got this name during the Thirty Years' War. The Imperials under General Tilly had conquered our entire territory in 1625 and have occupied it ever since. Twelve monks were commissioned to preach in the twelve parishes of the Lauenstein district and to reintroduce the old Catholic faith. They had been housed at Lauenstein Castle. On June 28, 1633, the monks all rushed to the top of the Ith on the Männekenstein, from which one can enjoy a magnificent view. Behind Hamelin, near Hessisch Oldendorf, the battle between Georg von Celle and the imperial troops was raging. From the cliff, the monks hoped to watch the Imperials triumph. But things turned out differently; the evangelicals won. When the monks realized this, they gathered up their habit and fled in haste to Lauenstein and from there to Hildesheim. But the people cheered and, to mockingly, called the rock from which the monks saw the imperial banner fall the "Monk's Stone". Source: https://www.salzInhibitororf.de/naturdenkmale-und-deren-bezeichung/

It was the year 1284. As every year, there had been a series of festive days with boisterous activity in Hamelin around St. John's Day. Moving out and moving, especially of young people and children, were the order of the day. In the darkness, the St. John's fires blazed up on the heights of the surrounding mountains. Stimulated by the festivities of the preceding St. John's Day, a large group of children made their way to Ith, just under two miles away, on June 26th in the most beautiful summer weather. Massive and rugged, the massif of the Fahnenstein juts out into the plain on the northern Ith. According to ancient custom, a midsummer bonfire was burned at its height every year, and the youth of Hamelin wanted to be there. With happy playing and singing, we left Hamelin's Easter Gate. A minstrel, a piper, led the long procession of 130 children. The Cobbenberg, as this Ithhöhe is called in the oldest documents, was reached in good time towards evening. At the foot of the Fahnenstein, halfway up the Cobbenberg, lies the eerie devil's kitchen, a formerly swampy rock basin in the middle of steep cliffs. Tradition has it that this place was an old Germanic place of worship and sacrifice. The devil's kitchen at the foot of the flag stone now particularly attracted the leader of the children. Like all members of his guild, he was still excluded from the church and therefore stuck to the old beliefs. The devil's kitchen was dangerous terrain, due to the swamp basin and the steep cliffs from which large blocks had detached over time and today have completely filled the swamp hole. Mysterious mists rose from the bottom, will-o'-the-wisps floated to and fro. As dusk fell, the children feared spooks and ghosts. As if by magic, they pressed forward. As the foremost sank into the swamp, panic set in, and instead of realizing the danger and turning back, those who stayed behind became utterly shy. Partly driven by superstitions, partly in an effort to save their comrades, they pressed forward and thus to perdition. So the sump of the devil's kitchen on the slope of the Cobbenberg, just under two miles east of Hamelin, became the grave of the 130 Hamelin children. https://www.mystic-culture.de/kultplatz/ith/teufelskueche/rattenfaengersage.html

Striking rock formation that offers a beautiful view, but is also impressive in itself.