In the alpine and pre-alpine regions of Central Europe there is a large collection of megalithic stone monuments and underground structures, some of which were built of dry stone. In contrast to the western and northern European prehistoric stone monuments, they have hardly been scientifically processed.
Various menhirs with and without perforation in Joglland: Most menhirs are free in the landscape or border courtyards or a stone stands at a courtyard like a guard. Many of these stones are perforated, but not all.
Very often the perforated stones stand next to a monument in a field or near a church. In Wenigzell, one perforated stone is integrated into the church wall and one into the outer church wall, which in my opinion also indicates a limiting function in the sense of a spiritual boundary. Also in Birkfeld there is a stone in the narrowest part of the church.
Megalithic Monuments - Perforated Stones and Menhirs
In the last 20 years, knowledge of prehistoric stone settings in Europe has multiplied. In Austria alone there are well over 1,000 menhirs and perforated stones in the federal states of Carinthia, Tyrol, Vorarlberg, Salzburg, Upper Austria, Lower Austria, Burgenland and Styria. It is interesting that a great many are at higher altitudes in the alpine range. More than 40 stone settings from the Koralpe and Gleinalpe have already been found in western Styria. According to the current state of research (2023), 570 such stone settings have been documented and mapped in north-eastern Styria in Joglland.
The Vorau open-air museum: Here it is shown how the stones are often put to practical use and incorporated into fence gates or serve as doorsteps for old buildings, such as stables. In Joglland, these stones are often called "Torstein", meaning g"ate stones".
Megalithic Monuments - Underground Systems
Especially in the area around Vorau, where well over 1,000 archaeological sites above and below ground have been discovered to date, hundreds of open underground facilities have been examined and some of them scientifically processed. A particularly striking feature of the more than 50 dry stone walls in and around Vorau is the corbelled vault construction of the ceiling parts, which have been covered with prepared heavy stone slabs. Such architecture does not point to the Middle Ages or modern times, because mostly semicircular vaulted arches were built there. This type of construction can be found in Styria in the so-called "shelters" of the presumed prehistoric mountain settlements as well as in the dilapidated and restored access areas of Erdstall tunnels and in underground rock passages. The cover slabs of the underground facilities in the area around Vorau have a provisional minimum age between 10,000 and 12,000 years before today (TCN dating). This age corresponds internationally with those megalithic cultural remains of "Göbekli Tepe" from Eastern Anatolia (Turkey).
So-called Erdställe, meaning underground sites, in the Vorau area in different designs.
At this point, a big thank you goes to Dr. H. Kusch and his wife, who have initiated and promoted research in this field over the past decades.
From left to right: left: hole stone and menhir deposits north of Hartberg (graphic Peter Holl and Heinrich Kusch); Centre: distribution of underground facilities in Joglland (source: Heinrich Kusch); right: In comparison: distribution map of the Erdställe in Bavaria (source: Bavarian State Office for the Preservation of Monuments)
The local population of Joglland has known about the 790 rock passages, Erdstall tunnels and underground stone structures for centuries. In times of war, they served as a hiding place for people, small livestock, food and valuables.
Subterranean tunnels are also said to exist in southern Styria, which are said to lead away from the Riegersburg to the surrounding farmsteads.
According to old stories, several corridors lead from the Riegersburg to the surrounding farmsteads. The Riegersburg is proudly and mightily enthroned on a 482 meter high volcanic rock. The Riegersburg first appears in documents in 1138 as "Ruotkerspurch", i.e. as the castle of a Rüdiger, but the basalt cone towering over 100 m was inhabited around 6,000 years ago. Even in the Carantan period (from the 7th century) there was a refuge on the castle hill, which was protected on three sides by the steepest rock faces, as can be seen from the name of the valley west of the castle and the stream that flows in it. It has always been a bulwark against enemy incursions in the east, but has never been conquered in all the centuries of its existence. (1st picture: FB dieriegersburg; 2nd picture Riegersburg seen from Schöckl, photo: FB Schöckl).
Position of the Stone Settings and Corridors
The elevated position of the Erdstall tunnels and stone settings is primarily related to the topography of the Vorau Basin, in which the corridors are already between 600 and 800 meters above sea level, which also corresponds to the altitude of the localities in this area. Old maps show, for example, that at the time of the Josephine land survey - Inner Austria (1784-1785) - the extended settlement area was much higher than today: farmsteads and cottager buildings can be found at altitudes of up to 1,200 meters above sea level, i.e. at a slightly lower altitude than the one in which alpine pastures were already being used for summer grazing. The small pasture of my family, to which the heifers are brought up every year, is at around 1,200 m, the Vorauer Schwaig (pasture) is at 1,511 meters above sea level. At the same sea level on the Wechsel there are also old dry stone walls and their remains.
Map excerpt from the Josephine state survey - Inner Austria (1784-1785) - Wechsel area
Bavaria and Central Europe
But not only in Austria, also in Bavaria there are many Erdstall tunnels. There they are also called Schratzllöcher (Schratzl = dwarf; Löcher = caves). The main area of distribution extends from the Bavarian Forest to Slovakia. Laid out using mining methods, the systems usually appear under old farms, sometimes also under churches and cemeteries and thus have a great deal in common with those in Joglland. The regionally different end of use in the 14./15. Century has not been finally clarified, but could, among other things, go hand in hand with the efforts to keep the country peaceful and the associated decline in feuding in the late Middle Ages.
In Austria too, at the end of the Middle Ages, the Erdstall tunnels were largely closed, which was sometimes accompanied by burials and sand being washed in. The Erdstall tunnels in Bavaria and Joglland are very similar in terms of construction and structure. Horizontal and vertical slips, walls, (sitting) niches as well as light niches and ventilation shafts can be cited as common features.
Plan and sections of the Erdstall in Petersberg in Kissing. Fig. from: Illing, Johann: Description and recording of the underground passages in Kissing, Royal District Court of Friedberg, with 1 lithogr. Taf., Munich 1854, 13. (Bavarian State Library, Bavar. 4085,43) (Source: https://www.historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de/Lexikon/Erdstall)
In Bavaria, most Erdstall tunnels have been discovered in the Bavarian Forest, especially in the district of Cham. Numerous systems are also known in the southern Upper Palatinate Forest, with the distribution in the Upper Palatinate barely extending west beyond the Naab. Further west, the Franconian Jura forms a border with natural caves. Isolated examples have been documented in Mainfranken and Oberfranken. Hardly any examples are known west of the Lech in Swabia. Increased discoveries have been recorded in the Upper Bavarian region in recent years.
Outside of Bavaria, there are Erdstall tunnels in Baden-Württemberg, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. Similar systems are also known in Central Europe in Poland, the Czech Republic (South Moravia), Slovakia, Hungary and France.
Torsteine at the Own Yard
Since Joglland is my birth place, I can report that there was also a mysterious passage from the ancient stone cellar on my parents' farm that led away from the farm. Unfortunately it is buried. I would like to add that in many old farms there was, and in some cases still is, an exit to the corridors in the living room under the large table (the so-called Jogl table), which connected them to each other.
Left and centre: So called Jogltische (Jogl-tables) in the Vorau open-air museum; right: old exemplar.
In addition, there are two menhirs that delimit my parents' square courtyard, one positioned due north and one due east. The corners of the courtyard face north, south, east and west. When we were children we played that these stones were our guardians.
One of them is positioned right next to the ancient and huge linden tree, the treetop diameter of which is over 40 meters in leaf in summer and which our grandmother said it had already seen Charlemagne and the Turks. Its huge, above-ground roots and its branches, which served us as swings, were our favorite playground and also my mother's and grandfather's. Many old farmsteads in Joglland still have very old linden trees on the farm, which are usually no more than 15 meters away from the residential building.
Old Hollow Ways, Dry Stone Walls at Higher Altitudes and Strange Rock Formations on the Hochwechsel
A tunnel system in this area (Joglland) is said to run from Masenberg to Hochwechsel (distance about 40 km as the crow flies).
The Wechsel massif with Hoch- and Niederwechsel seen from the Masenberg.
There are old stories of these passages, which should go from the Masenberg, which is said to be hollow inside and in which a lake is said to be located, up to the Hochwechsel. The corridors should be brightly lit by the treasures inside. That's how I was told it as a child by my uncle. However, there is no proof of this
Hollow Ways
Many old hollow ways lead to the Hochwechsel. They sometimes dig deep through the terrain due to the long duration of use. Pictures 4 and 5 show the ascent to the Wechsel over the "Steinerne Stiege". This path seems to be very old. Figure 6 shows the so-called "Roman road", vehicle tracks carved into the rock with a track width of about one meter. In the past, these hollow ways were mainly used in winter to transport wood from the highland forests. The dangerous cargo was brought down to the valley by sledge and then transported over rivers. These old paths were also used to drive the cattle from the pastures. At the Wechsel there is still a lively alpine economy with many beautiful Schwaigen (pastures). As a child, I attended the drive down of the cattle every autumn.
Dry Stone Walls
Old dry stone wall remains, but also intact ones of unknown age can be found from about 700 meters up to about 1,400 meters above sea level, here on picture 1 near the Hilmtor, picture 2 south of the Niederwechsel (both in spring). Image 3 was taken near the Kring in Vorau. Since the lowlands were once marshy and mossy, the settlements were higher than today.
Rock Formations at Niederwechsel and Hochwechsel
On the 1669 meter high Niederwechsel there are interesting rock and stone formations whose older use or origin is not known.
Rocks and stones at Niederwechsel; View from Nieder- to Hochwechsel; Aerial view of the Wechselplateau; Sunset.
Quellen:
https://austria-forum.org/.../Megalithische_Monumente_und...
https://www.subterravorau.at/
https://www.vorau.at/tourismus-freizeit/kultur/subterra
https://www.historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de/Lexikon/Erdstall
https://www.bergfex.at/.../vorau/highlights/19581-sub-terra/
https://maps.arcanum.com/.../firstsurvey-inner-austria/...
W. Brandi (1933): Zur Geomorphologie des Masenbergstockes am Nordostsporn der Alpen. Mit einer Kartenskizze (Beilage I). In: Zeitschrift/Journal: Mitteilungen des naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins für Steiermark.
https://www.historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de/Lexikon/Erdstall
https://maps.arcanum.com/de/map/firstsurvey-inner-austria/?layers=138&bbox=1709518.914912263%2C5950510.52657325%2C1727701.3730155993%2C5957227.43043381
Weiterführende Literatur:
Heinrich & Ingrid Kusch (2009): Tore zur Unterwelt, 4. Aufl., Graz.
Heinrich & Ingrid Kusch (2014): Versiegelte Unterwelt, 1. Aufl., Graz.
Zur archäologischen Untersuchung des Kandelhofer-/Kandlhofer- Erdstalles bei Puchegg, Steiermark, Österreich
Vorläufige archäologische und historische Verifizierung der megalithischen Steinsetzungen und unterirdischen Trockenmauer- Anlagen in der Nordoststeiermark, Österreich
https://www.historisches-lexikon-bayerns.de/Lexikon/Erdstall
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