Nucleus
with Ahlhorner Kellersteine 2 in the background left
Visited July 2018
Image credit: Uwe Häberle 07/2018
The chamber is 5.4 meters long and 1.5 meters wide. You can see 9 support stones and 3 capstones, one of which is broken. An enclosure can not be seen.
A tree or shrub is currently growing right out of the tomb, preventing better views, hopefully it will be removed soon before it causes more damage.
Visited July 2018
with Steinloger Kellersteine 2 in the background
Visited July 2018
Image credit: Uwe Häberle 07/2018
with Steinloger Kellersteine 2 in the background
Visited July 2018
Image credit: Uwe Häberle 07/2018
In the northeast-southwest-oriented tomb Steinloger Kellersteine 1 (the western tomb) all 13 support stones (six on the northwest, five on the southeast side and two endstones) are present, but some are no longer in their original position. Two of the five capstones are missing, the chamber is 7.5 x 1.5 meters. On a cracked capstone a drill hole can be seen.
Visited July 2018
West of Wildeshausen, south of the A1 autobahn there are three groups of 2 megalithic tombs each with the name affix “Kellersteine”, the Ahlhorner Kellersteine, the Steinloger Kellersteine and the Holzhauser Kellersteine described here.
West of Wildeshausen, south of the A1 autobahn there are three groups of 2 megalithic tombs each with the name affix “Kellersteine”, the Ahlhorner Kellersteine, the Holzhauser Kellersteine and the Steinloger Kellersteine described here.
The easiest approach to get to the Steinloger Kellersteine is to drive from Varnhorn north on the “Varnhorner Weg” and park (N52° 53’ 08.5” E8° 18’ 48.7”) where the side street “Vor der Aue” crosses the street from the right, just before the underpass of the A1 autobahn. From here a overgrown forest track leads in a straight line southwest. Follow this track, cross a clearing, stay on this track and you should reach the sites after a little less than 600m.
In a book by Mamoun Fansa Großsteingräber zwischen Weser und Ems (ISBN 978-3-89995-626-9, 2009), the tombs are listed as Grossenkneter Kellersteine and the image must be several decades old, because today the tombs are no longer in the open field, but are from tall trees enclosed.
Visited July 2018
On the left Steinloger Kellersteine 2 (942), on the right Steinloger Kellersteine 1 (941)
Visited July 2018
Image credit: Uwe Häberle 07/2018
The megalithic tomb Schmeersteine lies north of Varnhorn, pretty much in the middle between the tombs Thölstedt in the northeast and Mühlensteine, Varnhorn in the southwest. I combined my visit with the tomb Mühlensteine, Varnhorn, so I parked at N52 52 19.5 E8 19 20.5 and used the farm track which leads northeast. From the start of the farm track it is a 850m walk, before a signposted beaten track leads left off to the tomb, which lies about 120m in the wood.
The tomb is about 8 x 1,8m, of the three surviving capstones, two are broken.
Visited July 2018
taken from the “Faszination Archäologie” information board:
“Schmeersteine”
Neolithic megalithic tomb
Dimensions: about 8 x 1.8 m
The original layout of the megalithic tomb is still relatively well recognizable, although some boulders are not preserved in their original position. The strange name “Schmeersteine” is based on the traditional misbelief that fat and butter (in Low German: “Schmeer”) were sacrificed here some time ago.
Testimony of sedentary life
Megalithic tombs like “Schmeersteine” are considered the oldest surviving structures of northern Central Europe. Until the fourth millennium BC only hunters and gatherers lived in the Wildeshauser Geest. Only the “funnel beaker culture” (about 3500 – 2700 BC) settled down permanently.
They bred cattle, planted grain and lived in post constructions. Presumably, they believed in an otherworldly life and therefore built their deceased sometimes monumental graves of boulders. Those megalithic graves or megalithic tombs (Greek: mega = large, lithos = stone) were erected not for individuals, but for groups and used over many generations.
No drill holes found, so this capstones seems to be broken naturally
Visited July 2018
Image credit: Uwe Häberle 07/2018
The megalithic tomb Mühlensteine lies north of Varnhorn. To get to the site park at N52 52 19.5 E8 19 20.5 and use the farm track which leads northeast. Turn right after about 150m into a smaller track, after another 150m a small beaten path leads uphill. Make sure you leave the small quarry on your right hand you should reach the tomb in about 120m.
The Mühlensteine (mill stones) have their name from the surrounding Mühlenhöhe (mill height). At the southern end, the 6.4 x 2.2 m chamber is still fairly well preserved. It consists of 8 support and 4 capstones, two of them slipped into the chamber. At the western end are two large fragments that belong to the same capstone, as well as the remains of another capstone. The chamber is oriented in northwest-southeast direction.
During my visit, some smaller stones were stacked on some of the tombstones. And though I do not like this rite, especially at an ancient archaeological site, I did not remove the stones.
Visited July 2018
After the Visbeker Bräutigam 3, the Visbeker Braut is the second largest Hunebed in Germany. The rectangular enclosure is northeast/southwest oriented, about 80m long and 7m wide and contains at the southwestern end a rather small burial chamber of 5.5 x 1.5m. The mound that originally filled the site has largely disappeared. Four huge up to 2.50 meters high boulders form the southwest small side of the Hunebed. It is not entirely clear whether they are original stones of the enclosure or relocated capstones of the burial chamber.
To get to the site, drive the B312 from Wildeshausen to Ahlhorn. Immediately west of the autobahn exit “Wildehausen-West” lies the guest-house “Visbeker Braut”. Directly opposite is a small road under the autobahn. Turn right at the first junction and continue for about 180m to a small car park directly at the site. Or walk from the Ahlhorner Kellersteine for about 4km on the so called Brides walk as the bride procession did 5000 year ago before the were petrified ;-).
Visited July 2018
In the middle of the Ahlhorner Heide was in the old days a large farm. The owner was proud and greedy and would have liked to have his only daughter married to a wealthy farmer’s son from the area. But the girl loved a poor shepherd who had been her teenage plays. The hard-hearted father did not care about the requests of his child, but set against the will of the girl’s wedding day.
On wedding mornings, a procession of festively dressed people moved across the heath to Visbek. The bride and groom embarked on a walk with their parents, followed by the retinue of relatives and neighbors. The bride was deathly pale with tears in her eyes. Closer and closer she came to the village church; the bells of Visbek were already ringing. Then, in desperation, the girl turned her eyes to heaven and called imploringly: “Help, O God! I would rather turn to stone on the spot than belong to a man whom I can not love”. As soon as she uttered these words, the bridal process froze. Where men of flesh and blood had just moved on their way, mighty stones rose in two rows next to each other. The myrtle wreath, the flowers and ribbons turned into gray lichen and mosses. The bridegroom’s procession also suffered the same fate and turned to stone. The mighty boulders there give witness to it.
(taken from: Etta Bengen, O Wunner, o Wunner. Wat ligg hier woll unner? Großsteingräber zwischen Weser und Ems im Volksglauben. Oldenburg 2000)
taken from the “Faszination Archäologie” information board:
“Visbek Bride”
Neolithic megalithic tomb
The “Visbek Bride” is considered the second largest Hunebed in the Wildeshauser Geest. It is in a relatively good state of preservation. On the other hand, the magnificent south-western narrow side, which is made up of almost 3m high boulders, is probably not the original situation. Probably at this point in the 19th century, the original capstones of the chamber were erected. The curious name “bride” presumably results from the pre-Christian custom to celebrate central events such as weddings on megalithic tombs.
The legend of “Bride and Bridegroom”
Since the 18th century at the latest, people have told each other that the “Visbek Bride” and her 4km “Visbek Bridegroom” were in fact a petrified wedding party. According to the legend, she had to turn to stone, because the bride believed that she can only escape in this way the marriage established by the father with the unloved bridegroom.
Testimony of sedentary life
Megalithic tombs like the “Visbek Bride” are considered the oldest surviving structures of northern Central Europe. Until the fourth millennium BC only hunters and gatherers lived in the Wildeshauser Geest. Only the “funnel beaker culture” (about 3500 – 2700 BC) settled down permanently.
They bred cattle, planted grain and lived in post constructions. Presumably, they believed in an otherworldly life and therefore built their deceased sometimes monumental graves of boulders. Those megalithic graves or megalithic tombs (Greek: mega = large, lithos = stone) were erected not for individuals, but for groups and used over many generations.
