Weathering and different types of granite @museum.de

There are also two maps of Lusatia on the walls. These show the different areas where the various granite stones of the region can be found. We distinguish between Lusatian granite, Rumburg granite and, of course, our own Königshain granite. Of which, by the way, there is not that much compared to the other two.

But I really want to show you something else. Take a look at the panel showing various granite walls. They show something very typical of granite: its fissures. What are they? You can see them in the photos, but even better in the drawings: they are these lines that look a bit like arithmetic boxes in a school exercise book. Well, just not quite as neat. But still, I mean: criss-cross.

This has to do with the weather and the weathering of stones. It rains, it storms and it snows. And slowly, these natural forces even decompose granite. They don't destroy it, but they split it. Every crevice is such a fissure. You'll see later that granite is easy to split. In nature, this happens over thousands of years. If granite is not quarried, it becomes round at the fissures over time. You can see this particularly well in the uppermost layers. Because these round stones look like stuffed sacks, experts also refer to this as wool sack weathering.

You can imagine that such rounded bagged stones are more likely to slip. Look what happens when such a high granite rock weathers, cracks and slips: we see a photo of a fir forest. The stones have simply fallen down, rolled away and then remained there. Now it looks like a huge sea of stones. Beautiful, isn't it!