Stein-Zeit-Mensch

Schmallenberg ski jump (51.111599 | 8.380608)

Awe

Monumental sculpture by artist Nils-Udo in the middle of the vast forests of the Rothaar ridge on the WaldSkulpturenWeg from Schmallenberg to Bad Berleburg.

Earth, stone and wood. Nothing else. So simple. And at the same time, this image hits me with archaic force. The dark ashlar lies on a pedestal, infinitely heavy, unassailable, as if fallen from eternity. Where does it come from? How did it get here? What giants could move it? Why did it land here, in this clearing? It is surrounded by eight tree trunks, light without their bark, smooth and naked, they too massive. Pillars of the forest. The monster woods, which rest horizontally on them, limit the mysterious structure upward.
I sit down on one of the forest sofas at the edge of the clearing, let the sight take effect on me and watch the imagination fantasize. A temple in honor of the stone goddess? Sarcophagus of a giant king? Hessian-Westphalian announcement to the pharaoh: 'We can also build a pyramid - but more beautiful'?

Fantasies in the sense of the inventor. That's what he wants: Cast off, thoughts are free! The clearing comes to life. Werden becomes the scene of a historical tussle. Köllsche against Nassauer. The Kölls settle north of the Rothaar ridge, the Nassaus south. To keep the game exciting over the centuries, two different dialects are invented, hostile sovereigns, one worships the cross on the left, the other on the right. When there is a change of sovereigns, they are swapped. Köllsche and Nassau face each other in the clearing, swear at each other, threaten with their fists, roll across the forest floor wrestling, the usual testosterone trip. When everyone has been thoroughly roughed up and looks pretty demolished, the fighting wears itself out. The knights realize that they have much more in common than they always thought. At flaring campfires there are first fraternizations. And then the decision: We will build a monument for peace here, on the Rothaar ridge. Out of earth, stone and wood. Nothing else. But it should be immovable, unbreakable like the new friendship. And that's how it turned out. At least in my flights of fancy.

Fantasies in the sense of the inventor. That's what he wants: Cast off, thoughts are free! The clearing comes to life. Werden the scene of a historical tussle. Köllsche against Nassauer. The Kölls settle north of the Rothaar ridge, the Nassaus south. To keep the game exciting over the centuries, two different dialects are invented, hostile sovereigns, one worships the cross on the left, the other on the right. When there is a change of sovereigns, they are swapped. Köllsche and Nassau face each other in the clearing, swear at each other, threaten with their fists, roll across the forest floor wrestling, the usual testosterone trip. When everyone has been thoroughly roughed up and looks pretty demolished, the fighting wears itself out. The knights realize that they have much more in common than they always thought. At flaring campfires there are first fraternizations. And then the decision: We will build a monument for peace here, on the Rothaar ridge. Out of earth, stone and wood. Nothing else. But it should be immovable, unbreakable like the new friendship. And that's how it turned out. At least in my flights of fancy.

The soulfulness of this place lies in the fact that it immediately awakens ancient images in me. Temple. Tomb. Stone pyramid. Place of worship. Place of worship. A thread is felt that goes back thousands of years, to prehistory. Even then, people witnessed the awe of what was so much greater than themselves. They made heavy sacrifices and built something that was also much greater than themselves. Like this: Earth, wood, stones and the beauty of their arrangement. I understand this language even without words.

Author: Michael Gleich