page_title: Externsteine
section_title: 18th and 19th centuries
hierarchical_section_title: Externsteine / History / 18th and 19th centuries
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Externsteine um 1900, Photochromdruck English: Externsteine in Germany. Photochrom print (color photo lithograph)
context_page_description: The Externsteine is a distinctive sandstone rock formation located in the Teutoburg Forest, near the town of Horn-Bad Meinberg in the Lippe district of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
  The formation is a tor consisting of several tall, narrow columns of rock which rise abruptly from the surrounding wooded hills.
  In a popular tradition going back to an idea proposed to Hermann Hamelmann in 1564, the Externsteine are identified as a sacred site of the pagan Saxons, and the location of the Irminsul idol reportedly destroyed by Charlemagne; there is however no archaeological evidence that would confirm the site's use during the relevant period.
  The stones were used as the site of a hermitage in the Middle Ages, and by at least the high medieval period were the site of a Christian chapel. The Externsteine relief is a medieval depiction of the Descent from the Cross. It remains controversial whether the site was already used for Christian worship in the 8th to early 10th centuries.
  The Externsteine gained prominence when Völkisch and nationalistic scholars took an interest in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
context_section_description: The structure was rarely used, and fell into dilapidation in the 18th century. In 1810, it was torn down at the request of Countess Pauline.
  The old long-distance trade road running between rocks III and IV was expanded and paved in 1813. The unstable Wackelstein was secured with iron hooks. At the same time, new stairs were constructed and a bridge between rocks II and III gave access to the Höhenkammer.
  These improvements and better access via the road made the Externsteine an increasingly popular tourist destination, continuing a trend of the 18th century. Half-timbered 17th century buildings were replaced by new buildings, including several hotels.
  The Wiembecke stream flowing past the stones was dammed to form an artificial pond in 1836. The pond was later drained for the excavations of 1934/5, and restored after 1945.
  The period of Romantic nationalism of the 1860s to 1870s inspired a large number of publications speculating about the ancient history of the site. Many of these were contributed by local amateur historians and published in the Zeitschrift für vaterländische Geschichte und Althertumskunde Westfalens. The contributions by Wilhelm Engelbert Giefers (1817–1880) were reprinted as a short monograph in 1867.
  Local amateur historian Gotthilf August Benjamin Schierenberg (1808–1894) seems to have been the first to identify the "pagan idol" mentioned by Hamelmann with the Saxon Irminsul.
  The first archaeological excavations were performed in 1881 and 1888, with limited results. Gustav Schierenberg was looking in vain for evidence of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 1881. In 1888, the Westfälischer Altertumsverein under Konrad Mertens was looking at the possible reconstruction of the Holy Sepulchre.
caption: A photochrom print of the Externsteine dated to the 1890s.
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