Auf Karbonfels gebaut – die Burg und das urzeitliche Stolberg
Stolberg
Above the old town rises Stolberg Castle – and beneath it begins the journey through time.
The bright limestone on which it stands was formed around 350 million years ago on the bottom of a tropical sea. Countless small living beings deposited their limestone shells here. Over a long period, these deposits compacted, layer by layer, until soft mud became hard reef limestone. Today, traces of corals, algae, and shells are still encased in it – a frozen piece of ocean floor.
Later, humans intervened in this landscape. In the Gehlens Kull quarry, limestone was extracted, burned, and used as a building material – also for the walls of the castle. Thus, two eras lie here closely together: the era of geological history and that of the humans who shaped their habitat from it.
Tip: Take a moment at the viewpoint above the castle. From here, you can see how nature, stone, and city merge into one another – a living history book made of rock.
mehr lesen The bright limestone on which it stands was formed around 350 million years ago on the bottom of a tropical sea. Countless small living beings deposited their limestone shells here. Over a long period, these deposits compacted, layer by layer, until soft mud became hard reef limestone. Today, traces of corals, algae, and shells are still encased in it – a frozen piece of ocean floor.
Later, humans intervened in this landscape. In the Gehlens Kull quarry, limestone was extracted, burned, and used as a building material – also for the walls of the castle. Thus, two eras lie here closely together: the era of geological history and that of the humans who shaped their habitat from it.
Tip: Take a moment at the viewpoint above the castle. From here, you can see how nature, stone, and city merge into one another – a living history book made of rock.
