Images (13)
Fieldnotes (2)

Images

Image of Everstorfer Forst Süd 1 (Passage Grave) by Nucleus

The southern end of this impressive long barrow.
Visited June 2026

Image credit: Uwe Häberle 06/2026

Nucleus Aug 9, 2026

From the south-western corner.
Visited June 2026

Image credit: Uwe Häberle 06/2026

Nucleus Aug 9, 2026

From the south-eastern corner.
Visited June 2026

Image credit: Uwe Häberle 06/2026

Nucleus Aug 9, 2026

From the north-western corner.
Visited June 2026

Image credit: Uwe Häberle 06/2026

Nucleus Aug 9, 2026

From the north-eastern corner.
Visited June 2026

Image credit: Uwe Häberle 06/2026

Nucleus Aug 9, 2026

The passage grave with the southern end of the long barrow.
Visited June 2026

Image credit: Uwe Häberle 06/2026

Nucleus Aug 9, 2026

Visited June 2026

Image credit: Uwe Häberle 06/2026

Nucleus Aug 9, 2026

The passage grave and the northen part of the long barrow.
Visited June 2026

Image credit: Uwe Häberle 06/2026

Nucleus Aug 9, 2026

The passage grave with its entrance.
Visited June 2026

Image credit: Uwe Häberle 06/2026

Nucleus Aug 9, 2026

Visited June 2026

Image credit: Uwe Häberle 06/2026

Nucleus Aug 9, 2026

Visited June 2026

Image credit: Uwe Häberle 06/2026

Nucleus Aug 9, 2026

Ernst Sprockhoff
Atlas der Megalithgräber Deutschlands,
Teil 2: Mecklenburg – Brandenburg – Pommern (1967)

Image credit: Ernst Sprockhoff

Nucleus Aug 9, 2026

Ernst Sprockhoff
Atlas der Megalithgräber Deutschlands,
Teil 2: Mecklenburg – Brandenburg – Pommern (1967)

Image credit: Ernst Sprockhoff

Nucleus Aug 9, 2026

Articles

Everstorfer Forst Süd 1

Passage Grave

Nucleus Aug 9, 2026

Wow, this site is huge and impressive!!!

Everstorfer Forst Süd 1, also known as Naschendorf 1 or Riesengrab, is considered one of the largest, best-preserved megalithic site and undoubtedly one of the finest in Germany.

The site is oriented roughly north-west to south-east and consists of a rectangular long barrow measuring approximately 40 × 10 metres and a passage grave with a trapezoidal chamber approximately 7.2 m long, 2.4 to 1.7 m wide and 1.6 to 1.4 m high, to which a passage approximately 3.0 m long is attached off-centre to one side. In total, around 50 massive stone blocks make up the enclosure; within the chamber lies an imposing dolmen with four capstones resting on top. According to Sprockhoff’s survey, the structure was apparently completely intact – since then, only a few of the surrounding stones have tilted slightly or been displaced.

This site – together with the tombs in the immediate vicinity (Teufelsbackofen, Everstorfer Forst Süd 3) – reminds me of a similar cluster of megalithic tombs near Wildeshausen in Lower Saxony (Visbeker Bräutigam, Visbeker Braut), particularly in terms of the layout of the sites.

To reach the tomb, walk south from the car park, cross the B105 and continue straight ahead along a forest path. After about 30 metres, turn right and you will reach the site – which you can already see through the trees from a distance – after about 80 metres.

Highly recommended!

Visited June 2026

Everstorfer Forst Süd 1

Passage Grave

Nucleus Aug 9, 2026

Taken from the on-site information board:

Passage grave
in a long chamber with large surrounding stones

People have been fascinated by tombs build by large stones – also known as megalithic tombs or giant’s graves – for many generations before us. Many legends are associated with these stone structures. Time and again, the construction of these structures is attributed to giants.

Archaeological research into these structures, however, has revealed that they are tombs used over several generations.

When bodies were placed in the tomb, the skeletal remains of those buried earlier were in some cases carefully moved aside and piled up to form bone deposits.

These communal or collective graves served as the centre of life or as a territorial ‘marker’ for Stone Age settlers. However, they will also have strengthened the sense of belonging as a place of ancestral worship and as a kind of ‘collective memory’.