Nucleus

This burial chamber was discovered in the 1920s on the Pennebusch parcel of land and was reconstructed in Malente in the district of Ostholstein in Schleswig-Holstein. It is now located south of the L 174 from Malente to Eutin-Sielbeck. It is around five metres long and 2.5 metres wide. The passage grave consists of ten large boulders, eight supporting stones and two capstones.

At a distance of around four metres around the megalithic tomb is a circle of small boulders, which is intended to represent the circumference of a mound of earth that usually covers a megalithic structure.

Visited October 2024

There was once an important burial site here on Wulfener Berg with several long beds up to 130 metres long. The giant bed of Wulfen is a replica of the working group ‘Schönes Wulfen’ e.V.

The model for the replica of the long bed is based on drawingsby the antiquities researcher and pastor Diederich Harries had made of a well-preserved longbed at the time, which was located on the salt marsh below the Wulfener Berg. It consisted of an east-west orientated enclosure and two chambers, each with seven supporting stones and two capstones. This megalithic structure was destroyed in 1876 when stones were needed to build a dyke.

The tomb is located on a golf course but is freely accessible. You can park in the Kuschelwiese car park approx. 220m south of the tomb.

Visited October 2024

Taken from the on-site information board:

THE SECRET OF THE ‘VITZDORF STONE CIST’.

You are standing in front of a replica of a so-called ‘longbed’ from the Neolithic period, which was around 4000 BC. The first farming population in Schleswig-Holstein built these structures and buried their dead in the stone chambers inside. Long beds or megalithic tombs are also called ‘giants tombs’ because it was believed that giants were buried in them. Some original remains of these megalithic tombs can still be found on Fehmarn today, including the ‘Vitzdorfer Steinkiste’ near Katharinenhof. As this tomb is located on private property, it is unfortunately not freely accessible to interested visitors, but the story surrounding this grave is one you must know, but please don’t be alarmed:

It was in 1420 when the Danish king Erik of Pomerania wanted to annex the strategically important Baltic island of Fehmarn, landed here with a sizeable army after several unsuccessful attempts, mercilessly wiped out all living things – 2,500 Fehmarans are said to have died – and from then on placed the attractive island under the rule of the Danish crown. Only very few Fehrnarans escaped the bloodbath, including a certain Christian Rauert, who hid in the Vitzdorf stone cist, the aforementioned megalithic tomb, namely in the bone chamber from which he was rescued after the Battle of Fehmarn. from which he emerged unscathed after the Battle of Fehmarn.

According to tradition, two other Fehmaran men survived, so that the three men made up the male population of the island, which was later interpreted to mean that all Fehmarans were inevitably related to each other and therefore only ‘nepotism’ prevailed here. It is commonly said that ‘faith moves mountains’ and if this is true, then it’s no wonder that Fehmarn is so flat.

HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF ERNST-LUDWIG KIRCHNER?
He was a famous German expressionist painter who lived on Fehmarn for a long time and whose works were considered ‘degenerate’ during the terrible Nazi era. A museum was built in his honour; the Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Documentation in Burg.
Here you can admire some of his most beautiful works.

Taken from the on-site information board:

On Wulfener Berg there was an important Stone Age burial ground with megalithic tombs dating from 3600-3200 BC. Particularly noteworthy were several long beds (‘giant beds’) up to 130 metres long. Long beds are Stone Age megalithic tombs that are covered by a long rectangular mound of earth. mound.

In 1836, the archaeologist and pastor Diederich Harries described the tombs near Wulfen, which had already been largely destroyed by then. The stones were blown up by stonecutters and sold as building material. Today there are no traces of the burial ground.

The working group ‘Schönes Wulfen’ e.V. encouraged the reconstruction of a long bed and organised the implementation of the project in 2010. It was modelled on a drawing that Pastor Harries had made of a longbed that was still in good condition at the time, which had been located on the salt marsh below the Wulfener Berg.

The long bed consisted of an east-west orientated stone enclosure and two chambers, each with seven supporting stones and two capstones. This grave was destroyed in 1876 when stones were needed to build a dyke.

The stones used for the 60 metre long and 7 metre wide replica were collected from various places all over Fehmarn and erected with the help of excavators. The stones were not covered with earth, as was customary in the Stone Age, nor were the gaps between the stones filled with dry masonry and clay.

Until the 18th century, the opinion persisted, that the megalithic tombs built from boulders weighing several tonnes could only be the work of giants with superhuman strength. It was not until the late 19th century that scientific research into megalithic tombs (Greek: megas = large, lithos = stone) began.

Today we know that the North German and Scandinavian megalithic tombs were built by Stone Age farmers. They used wooden rollers and poles as levers to build the tombs.

The stone chambers were collective tombs in which numerous dead were buried over a long period of time. It is possible that only the bones were deposited after the deceased had been laid elsewhere.

Common burial objects for the afterlife were flint axes and decorated clay vessels with funnel-shaped rims, the so-called ‘funnel cups’.

Albertsdorf (Sprockhoff #250), also known as Alversteen, is probably an extended dolmen on the island of Fehmarn, of which 4 supporting stones and a capstone (2 x 1.8 x 0.9 m) have survived. The end stones are missing, so that the original size of the tomb can no longer be recognised. The dolmen once served as a prominent sea marker.

Today, the extremely well-kept and exceptionally accessible tomb is located in a small wood and can be easily reached on a footpath along the coast. It can also be reached by travelling south past Albertsdorf and following the dirt track southwards. The is also a small car park nearby (N54° 25.185’ E11° 06.154’)

Visited October 2024

Taken from the on-site information board:

The cross on the tomb in gold

‘BE CAREFUL, GOLD!

You are at a historic site here, because this giant tomb, also known as Alversteen or Alverston, is an approximately 5500-year-old megalithic site from the Neolithic period.
And what is a megalithic site? Scientists use the term to describe tombs of huge stones, which is quite logical considering these huge boulders.

It is undoubtedly known that burials were made here, but certainly not for giants, although the word ‘hune’ is synonymous with giant. So how did people in the past come up with the idea that giants were buried here? Quite simply, the burial chamber under the stones is really huge and so people followed this rather adventurous logic at the time.
However, it is now assumed that the bones of many people found a final resting place here and this may explain the size of the burial chamber.

What we do know, however, is that the Alversteen had a completely different significance until 1832:

Due to its elevated position – there used to be no trees here – the grave served as a signpost for shipping. Year after year, the capstone was decorated with a whitewashed cross, making it an important sea mark visible from afar.

This enabled the lookout to shout ‘Caution, gold to starboard’ or, of course, ‘Gold to port’, depending on where the ship was sailing from. As you know, the name of the community here is called ‘Gold’.

Incidentally, the Gold beach is one of the most beautiful on the island. The best thing to do is to go there right away and when the weather is nice and it’s warm enough, then have fun with a wonderful swim in the Baltic Sea.

Taken from the on-site information board:

Community of Landkirchen
- Megalithic tomb -

The prehistoric megalithic tomb was built near the coast on an elevated area. It still consists of four supporting stones of the two long sides and a capstone. An end stone on the narrow side and two flat entrance stones are no longer present. It appears to be an extended dolmen. Such tombs of the Neolithic period (approx. 3500 v. Chr. ) were covered with earth.

The builders were settlers who cleared the naturally grown forest with polished flint axes and settled down on the basis of a rural way of life. In the burial chambers they gave ceramic vessels, amber jewellery and stone tools to their dead.

In the first half of the 19th century, the megalithic tomb served as a signpost for seafarers. The side facing the sea was painted white and a white cross shone on the capstone; the grave was therefore not allowed to be ‘removed’ or ‘mutilated’.

The megalithic tomb has been a listed building since 1979.

Kalköhl 3 (Sprockhoff #220) aka Buschkate 3 consists of three large and two smaller stones. They can be recognised deep in the ground, which do not allow any conclusions to be drawn about the former site. They are said to be the remains of a long bed. The stones are located about ten metres south of the ‘Kaköhl/Buschkate 1’ long barrow.

Visited October 2024

Kalköhl 2 (Sprockhoff #219) aka Buschkate 2 is a – heavily disturbed – burial chamber measuring around seven metres long and four metres wide have been preserved. Several massive capstones and supporting stones are recognisable. The burial mound covering the burial chamber is almost completely missing. The tomb contains a very striking red stone and is located around 30 metres to the west of the long barrow ‘Kaköhl/Buschkate 1’.

Visited October 2024

Kaköhl 1 (Sprockhoff 218) aka Buschkate 1 is the best preserved tomb of the three tombs here. It is a long barrow oriented rougly north-south with a chamber facing the same direction. The length of the slightly trapezoidal barrow is 16 metres. The width is reduced from 8 metres in the north to 5.5 metres in the south. The chamber, measuring 6 x 1.5 metres, has six supporting stones on each side. Four capstones are still present, two are probably missing. The burial mound that once covered the long barrow is almost completely missing.

Visited October 2024

If you drive along the B202 from Kaköhl in the direction of Döhnsdorf, you will see a sign for the megalithic tombs after about 1.5 kilometres. Leave the car here and walk about 400 metres to the tombs, which are very idyllically situated on a hillock. There is an information sign at the site, so you can’t miss it.

Visited October 2024

Taken from the on-site information board:

Community of Blekendorf

- Megalithic tombs Kaköhl – Buschkate –

Tombs of the later Stone Age, built around 2700 – 2500 BC. Best preserved: trapezoidal long barrow with burial chamber. Four of the six capstones as well as six pairs of supporting stones and a capstone are present. The stones west of the long barrow are the remains of a burial chamber, which was once covered by a round mound. The one to the south is, according to ancient tradition, the remains of another long barrow.

The builders of such tombs were Stone Age settlers who used ground flint axes to clear the naturally grown forest with polished flint axes and built on the basis of a farming way of life and economy. In
connection with an unknown mortuary custom ceramic vessels (e.g. funnel beakers, hence the funnel beaker culture), amber jewellery and stone tools were found in the grave chambers.

The tombs were placed under protection in 1967 with an entry in the protected with the entry in the monument register.