Hey, I’d sign up.
Well, this was a cool thing to find this morning.
*signs up for a new hobby*
Externsteine near Horn-Bad Meinberg, North Rhine-Westphalia
Legend has it that this was the site of Irminsul, the Saxon sanctuary destroyed by Charlemagne, but there is no evidence.
The site was visited by humans of the stone age, and there are prehistoric hollow-ways in the vicinity. There are ancient fireplaces in the caves.
In the middle ages, the caves were inhabited by hermits. There is a relief dated to the 12th century showing the Deposition from the Cross.
The counts of Lippe-Detmold had built a maison de plaisance at the rocks, but it was only scarcely used and completely removed by later generations of the comital family.
The nationalist movements of the early 20th century seized the century-old legends then the Externsteine were a Germanic sanctuary. Turing the Third Reich, several competing Nazi officials employed volunteer archeologists to find clues, but were unsuccessful. There were plans to convert the site into a Sacred Grove.
Nowadays, the place is not only a popular destination for day-trippers (500,000 to 1,000,000 visitors per year), but also a place for gatherings of nationalist, paganist, and esoteric movements. The city council of Horn-Bad Meinberg has developed several plans to monetize the touristic attractiveness of the Externsteine (including building a stage for music festivals or even a musical theatre), but fortunately none of these plans have yet been realized, so the place can still be admired in its near-natural state.
“Men do not care how nobly they live, but only how long, although it is within the reach of every man to live nobly, but within no man’s power to live long.”— Seneca, Moral Letters to Lucilius
“If you can’t see something beautiful about yourself, get a better mirror.”— Freyja, probably.
I’m obsessed with these Raven candle holders. They remind me of Odin’s two ravens, Huginn and Muninn, who flew all over the world collecting information. Who is your favorite deity or animal from Norse mythology?