Niederkleen (bm). Anyone wandering through the larger stretches of the Niederkleen folk hike found a stone colossus almost three and a half meters long and weighing eight to nine tons: the gray stone on the Schalsberg. It is thought possible that this stone was used by the Celts or Chats as a sacrificial stone. Only a few hundred meters away are hill and megalithic tombs from the Bronze Age and probably also from the Iron Age.
The hiker will find on site an information document, which provides useful information about this huge chunk. Accordingly, the "gray stone" is a strongly consolidated sedimentary rock with the components quartz, feldspar and other rock fragments. The Taunusquarzit is in many places in the wider area. For example, quartzite has been mined in the Köppern valley since the end of the 19th century. However, as the gray stone has come to the Schalsberg, the experts remain a mystery. In the vicinity, quartzite hardly occurs. The information note states: "Whether geological or geological changes have placed the stone on the border between Oberkleen and Niederkleen, or whether the Celts were able to move this stone (...) with muscle power or applied mechanics, is unexplored."
It is further explained that the term "gray stone" goes back exclusively to the color and has nothing to do with the "witch of the gray stone". This piece of woodland, in which the eponymous novel by local poet Wilhelm Reuter plays, is located about one kilometer to the west at the boundaries of Vollnkirchen, Oberwetz and Oberkleen.