Not much has remained of Mount Stenzelberg in the Siebengebirge, due to centuries of quarrying for quartz latite, a volcanic rock.
Already in the Middle Ages, the Cistercian monks of Heisterbach gained stones there to build their enormous abbey church. In the immediate vicinity, we also find stones from Stenzelberg in Bonn cathedral, the churches in Ober- and Niederdollendorf, Nikolaus chapel in Heisterbacherrott and the church in Oberpleis.
For centuries, the quarry continued,. Finally, in 1922, the Siebengebirge became a protected area. As one of the last quariies, in 1931 the quarry on the Stenzelberg was finally closed.
Today we can visit the open quarry at Stenzelberg. It is a picturesque landscape, where the rock bodies in the shape of an upright cylinder are particularly striking. These are the so-called “Umläufer”. These stones were of no use to the quarry men, so they left them like this.
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