ポーレの天然記念物・トップ20

The old baptism is the subject of a local legend, which takes place at the time of Christianization. The stone's name may derive from the embellished idea that it was used as a baptismal font after the advent of Christianity. Forced baptisms are conceivable, but just as little documented as pagan human sacrifices in prehistoric times. Nonetheless, the idea of human sacrifice in the ancient baptism is considered as one of several explanations of the idiom "walking over the Deister." The idiom means "disappear" and possibly "die" - similar to "cross the Jordan" and "cross the Wupper". Other explanations of phraseologism do not draw on the sagas associated with the ancient baptism. Source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alte_Taufe

The old baptism (formerly also wolf baptism or heathen baptism) is a cliff in the Deister in Lower Saxony. The cuboid made of Wealden sandstone with an edge length of around 3 meters and a deep trough on the top is located about 50 m away from the Deisterkamm, west of the Nordmannsturm in the municipality of Lauenau. The Old Baptism was regarded as an old Germanic sacrificial site for which there is no archaeological evidence. An excavation in the area of the stone has not yet been carried out. Detlef Schünemann tries to make a prehistoric processing and ritual use of the stones credible in comparison with other striking, large stones, which also have hollows (so-called sacrificial stones). The old baptism is the subject of a local legend, which takes place at the time of Christianization. The stone's name may derive from the embellished idea that it was used as a baptismal font after the advent of Christianity. Forced baptisms are conceivable, but just as little documented as pagan human sacrifices in prehistoric times. Nonetheless, the idea of human sacrifice in the ancient baptism is considered as one of several explanations of the idiom "walking over the Deister." The idiom means "disappear" and possibly "die" - similar to "cross the Jordan" and "cross the Wupper". Other explanations of phraseologism do not draw on the sagas associated with the ancient baptism. Source: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alte_Taufe

For decades, hikers who know the area have been amused by a sign on the cross beech tree that indicated the direction to the Hohenborstel district of Barsinghausen. In the course of renewing the signage in the Deister, the makers of the new wooden sign obviously felt a commitment to tradition. Source: https://deister-echo.de/neue-hinweisschilder-mit-schreibfehler-bleibt-die-tradition-gewahrt/

very slippery and muddy at this time of year (January). For me as a beginner, the section of the trail is very exciting. But I made it there and back safely.

The old baptism is great

Big intersection from here you can get everywhere. Shelter with trash can 🗑 available.

In addition to the cross, there is a spacious shelter at this intersection in case of rain and a bench for picnicking and watching who crosses the path.

The approximately 2700 footprints of different types of dinosaurs are in one of the Obernkirchen sandstone quarries. They were discovered in 2007 and 2008 and exposed by paleontologists from the Lower Saxony State Museum in Hanover. The traces were found within the 6 to 9 meter thick Obernkirchen sandstone, which lies under younger surface layers here. The trace fossils are attributed to the Berriasian (Lower Cretaceous, about 145.5 to 140.2 million years ago) and lie in two horizons. In the lower horizon there are mainly traces of smaller theropods, which are often referred to as "raptors" in the media. In the upper horizon, traces of animals from different ages that resemble Iguanodontipus and cf. Caririchnium dominate. The fact that the traces were so well preserved is due to the fact that the fresh prints were quickly superimposed by storm sands. Source: Wikipedia