Barbarine
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The Barbarine is the best-known free-standing
rock formation A rock formation is an isolated, scenic, or spectacular surface rock (geology), rock outcrop. Rock formations are usually the result of weathering and erosion sculpting the existing rock. The term ''rock Geological formation, formation ...
in the German part of the
Elbe Sandstone Mountains The Elbe Sandstone Mountains, also called the Elbe Sandstone Highlands (, ; , ), are a mountain range straddling the border between the state of Saxony in southeastern Germany and the North Bohemian region of the Czech Republic, with about three-q ...
. It is a
rock pinnacle A pinnacle, tower, spire, needle or natural tower (, ''Felsturm'' or ''Felszinne'') in geology is an individual column of rock, isolated from other rocks or groups of rocks, in the shape of a vertical shaft or spire. is a natural geomorphological ...
, high, and is the symbol of
Saxon Switzerland Saxon Switzerland (, ) is a hilly climbing area and national park in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains. It is located around the Elbe valley south-east of Dresden in Saxony, Germany, adjoining Bohemian Switzerland in the Czech Republic. Toge ...
. It was first climbed on 19 September 1905.


Location

The Barbarine belongs to the
Pfaffenstein The Pfaffenstein, formerly called the ''Jungfernstein'', is a Table (landform), table hill,
massif near the village of Pfaffendorf in the borough of Königstein.


Development for sport climbing

An ascent by the climber, Felix Wendschuh, on 9 September 1905 was the first documented attempt to climb the Barbarine. He climbed up to a point underneath the summit block, at least to the end of the crevice. The story that Keiler, the publican in Pfaffenstein, had forced him to turn around under threat, should probably be discounted. Keiler was a climber himself and would have had nothing against a climb, especially as those who first climbed it later left documentary evidence with him in the pub. On 19 September 1905 the
Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...
climber,
Rudolf Fehrmann Rudolf Fehrmann (22 June 1886 – 1947) was a German climber. He was a pioneer rock climber at the Elbe Sandstone Mountains near Dresden. Climbing career He began climbing at the age of 17 and was soon at the leading edge of the fledgling sport. ...
, and the American,
Oliver Perry-Smith Oliver Perry-Smith (October 11, 1884 in Philadelphia – May 13, 1969''Proceedings of the Club: Secretary report for the year 1969'', AAJ 1970, pp. 224, lines 6-8 (for pdf version, see External links)) was an American rock climber, mountaineer an ...
, succeeded in becoming the first to conquer the Barbarine. They had climbed to just under the summit before midday, but were too tired to scale the last overhang on the summit head until later. Another route, on the valley side, was opened by Alfred Hermann on 8 July 1924. Lightning strikes on the summit and progressive erosion rendered the upper part of the pinnacle increasingly unstable, so that in 1946 mountaineers poured concrete into the hollow. Due to the continued erosion, in 1964 further work was carried out; the summit block being underpinned and supported with steel cables. The broken summit block was protected from further erosion by a surrounding steel cable. Not until 1975 was a general ban on climbing the pinnacle imposed. In 1979/80 the summit blocks were reinforced with sandstone. The upper block was given a cap of artificial sandstone and was treated with water-repellant chemicals. The geological
natural monument A natural monument is a natural or cultural feature of outstanding or unique value because of its inherent rarity, representative of aesthetic qualities, or cultural significance. They can be natural geological and geographical features such as w ...
is only climbed occasionally today – mainly by geologists and scientists who hope to avert further damage.


The legend of the Barbarine

According to legend, the Barbarine is a petrified virgin, the ''"perpetual memorial of a punishment, according to which it so happened that a mother had told her daughter to go to church on Sunday, but during the service the daughter went up the Pfaffstein into the bilberries and when her mother found her there, she cursed her daughter in anger, pronouncing that she must be turned to stone on the spot; whereupon it happened in a moment, and therefore, this virgin turned to stone for ever warns all disobedient children with her stony appearance."' The name Barbarine was taken from the girl's Christian name. In a variation of this legend the mother is an evil witch and the girl meets her beloved, a hunter, at the Pfaffenstein.


Gallery

File:Barbarine.jpg, The Barbarine column in autumn File:Barbarine002.jpg, Display board on the Barbarine viewing point File:Barbarine003.jpg, The head of the Barbarine File:Barbarine004.jpg, The Barbarine in winter File:Sachsen 2012-021.jpg, Barbarine


See also

*
Saxon Switzerland Climbing Area Saxon Switzerland () is the largest and one of the best-known rock climbing regions in Germany, located in the Free State of Saxony. The region is largely coterminous with the natural region of the same name, Saxon Switzerland, but extends well ...


References


Sources

* Hans-Dieter Beeger: ''Natürliche und technische Sandsteinverwitterung an der Barbarine am Pfaffenstein.'' in: Sächsische Heimatblätter Heft 3/1965, p. 257-261 * Alfred Meiche: ''Sagenbuch der Sächsischen Schweiz und ihrer Randgebiete.'' Altis Verlag (2nd edition of the amended 2nd edition of 1929), Dresden 1997,


External links


Information about Pfaffenstein and Barbarine


{{Coord, 50, 53, 55, N, 14, 4, 54, E, type:mountain_region:DE-SN, display=title Rock formations of Saxon Switzerland Königstein, Saxony Natural monuments in Saxony