Alexey Dorofeev. Secrets of the Ahnenerbe. Megaliths Externstein. Part 1. Unknown technologies

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

The video was made by Andrey Dorofeev specially for the Association "Protohistory"

Externstein. According to local legends, the devil created them in just one night. There are many hypotheses about the true purpose of the sanctuary, but, despite the research of many generations of researchers, none of them has been fully confirmed.

The Externstein cliffs are riddled with a large number of passages, steps and caves, and only a few of them do not give rise to doubts that they were used as chapels.

The origin of the word "exterstein" is not fully understood. Modern spelling and pronunciation has only been noted since the 19th century. That is, the "outer stone" is only the apparent origin of the word. In fact, in older sources, there are two variants of the name: Egge-stein and Elster-stein. That is, either a stranded stone, or a magpie.

The ancient pagan temple of Exterstein is located in the Teutoburg Forest (the Weser Mountains, located in North Rhine-Westphalia), near the town of Horn-Bad Meinburg.

Rising 30 m above the ground, effectively looming against the background of the sky, five uneven sandy columns, dotted with secluded grottoes and passages, appear in front of him. Picturesque rocks, reminiscent of a picture from a children's book of fairy tales, only add to the charm of these places.

Situated on a territory teeming with ancient sacred buildings, they are shrouded in mysticism and legends: according to popular legends, these stones were erected in one night and then burned by the devil. But, most likely, they were not completely burned, because there was something left?

According to legend, the ancient German god Odin was crucified here (to gain wisdom, as I remember). Nearby, on one of the rocky peaks of the Externstein in ancient times, the cult of fire and the moon was maintained, and an observatory was located, and there was a sanctuary of the Cherusci tribe.

"In Exterstein, until the 8th century, the Saxons and other descendants of the Cherusci worshiped the sacred tree Irminsul, cut down only by the Franks under Charlemagne."

This version was very strongly supported and developed in Annenerbe (the secret mystical service of Nazi Germany). Himmler tried to prove that this sanctuary is a confirmation of the presence of a high intelligence (apparently, there was no other evidence except a heap of stones?) And, as a result, the advantage over other nations, the ancient German priests.

In 1935, under the supervision and leadership of the SS, excavations were carried out here again (before that there were three attempts, starting from the end of the 19th century). But even at that time, cultural layers were found only 10-12 centuries. In 1939, this area was closed to the public.

In the 9th year of our era, three Roman legions perished in these places under the leadership of Var, who advanced deep into the territories of the Germanic tribes. The victory over them is attributed to the legendary leader of the same Cherusci tribe, Arminius, to whom a monumental monument was erected near Externstein.

Interesting fact: the tree trunks of the forest were hung with the skulls of legionnaires after the battle. The defeat (later known as the clades Variana, German Varusschlacht) was very palpable for the Roman army; Emperor Augustus, according to historians, let go of his beard as a sign of mourning and banged his head against the doorframe, repeating: “Var, return the legions” (“Varus, legiones redde”).

For reference: Cherusci (lat. Cherusci, Germanic scholars derive this ethnonym from the word hairu, which means sword in Old Teutonic) - a Germanic tribe that lived south of the Angivarians, on both banks of the middle reaches of the Weser, its tributaries and near the Harz; the borders of their settlements reached the Elbe.

When Christianity replaced paganism in Germany in about 722, places of worship were inherited by the new religion.

In medieval times, Externstein served as a refuge for Christian hermits. The purpose of the caves is beyond doubt - these were premises that served for the administration of pagan rituals, later expropriated by Christian monks for their own purposes.

The most famous and interesting place in Exterstein is a small room at the top of one of the rocks. Now it is partially destroyed - there is no roof and south wall. A niche with a column and an almost circular hole in the wall is carved into the eastern wall. In other, early photographs, pagan symbols were on the upper beam on the left, right and center. Now they seem to have been erased.

In the 19th century, scientists noticed that a circular hole indicates the point of summer sunrise and the northernmost point of moonrise - two astronomical coordinates that are found in many other similar prehistoric structures.

Getting there is not easy: you can only get to it by steps carved into the stone and a rickety footbridge.

Apparently, the chapel was built so high above the ground so that it would be convenient to watch the sunrise and the moon because of the special landmarks on the horizon behind the forest canopy.

Moreover, the researchers found that Externstein lies at approximately the same latitude as Stonehenge, a fact that proves the importance of this astronomical landmark for both ancient European astronomers and priests.

Above the chapel, scientists believe, there were once other chapels and wooden buildings used to observe the movement of the Sun, Moon and stars, that is, he suggested that Externstein was the center of the ancient lunar cult.

The finds confirmed this hypothesis, according to which the lack of a roof and the destruction of the observatory chapel is the result of deliberate vandalism by Cistercian monks.

It has been proven that the 50-ton slab at the foot of the pillar rock was formerly the side wall of the chapel. The monks destroyed the sanctuary in order to "cleanse" it of pagan prehistory and make it suitable for Christian worship.