From Königshain into the world @museum.de

“From Königshain into the world” - don't think this is about the stone workers. Most of them didn't come far from Königshain. There were no vacation days, at least not at first, and later only two or three days a year. The only thing that really went out into the world from here was the granite stones. Take a look: where you can still see them today!

The owl is probably right. Nevertheless, there was one building that the people of Königshain could see for themselves, even in their limited free time. And here we come once again to Carl Adolph Gottlob von Schachmann. He not only sketched in the forests around Königshain. In 1774, he had a viewpoint built on the Steinberg, which lies on the south side of Königshain. A small, gleaming white temple whose massive pillars came from our quarry.

70 years later, our granite was no longer just used to support a building. No wonder, because now the aim was to ensure a safe crossing for the railroad. A high bridge was needed, and Königshain granite was the material of choice. The bridge is 475 meters long and was completed in 1847. It crosses the Neisse near Görlitz and connects Germany with Poland, more precisely the two cities of Dresden and Wroclaw. It is one of the oldest railroad bridges in Germany.

And once again, Görlitz was the destination for Königshain granite stones. This time, the city savings bank needed a new building. In 1911, a stately corner building was built on Postplatz, which housed the savings bank, the registry office, the cemetery administration and a funeral parlor. Take a closer look at the photo of the Sparkasse: The large ashlars of the façade are made of Königshain granite.

Further on to Cape Arkona on the island of Rügen. Cape Arkona is a 43-metre-high cliff in the north of the island. There are two lighthouses here. The small square one was designed by the famous architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel and was put into operation in 1828. It was later joined by a taller tower. This went into operation in 1905 and stands on a solid base made of - well, you guessed it! - Königshain granite.

The largest memorial to the fallen soldiers of the Red Army has stood in Berlin since 1949. It is the Soviet Memorial in Treptower Park. 40,000 cubic meters of granite were used here. The three-meter-high figure of a mother mourning her fallen sons on the forecourt was created from a single block of granite from the quarries in Hilbersdorf.

In Munich's Olympic Park, on the other hand, Königshain granite was used in its - shall we say - most common form: as paving stone. They came to the city on the Isar during the construction period, i.e. between 1966 and 1972, and have literally been at the feet of visitors on the paths and squares of the Olympic Park ever since.