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Translation:
Darmstädter Echo (
a newspaper) September 22nd, 2004 Cellar
found with divining rod ERICH
SCHUCK (Michelstadt) WAS HAPPY, as he ran into one of the hollow spaces in
the Rodenstein castle ruins while “divining” with his divining rod: according
to Peter Schneider, Schuck’s team colleague, it is evidently one of some
hidden cellar spaces. (Photo: Peter Schneider) When Heinrich Schliemann left for the Aegean in the year 1868 to excavate Troy, something which was only documented in Homer’s ancient verse, his contemporaries considered him either naïve or crazy. His find redeemed him, even if his excavation method resembled to us nowadays as that of grave robbers who ransacked the earth without consideration of archaeological knowledge or irretrievable traces of culture. The finding of that "hollow space" (ancient cellar room ) has also been a case of redemption for Peter Schneider and Erich Schuck, whose locating methods have been smiled at by many contemporaries. They both wanted to demonstrate their knowledge and Erich Schucks ability to lokate "anomalies in the earth's magnetic field" in order to find subterranean hollow spaces, groundwater resources and other things. The idea, to search for secret cave rooms in the legendary castle ruins of Rodenstein near the city of Fränkisch-Crumbach by using divinig methods occurred to Schuck and Schneider over ten years ago. Critics, jumping in with the objection that it is not much impressive to guess cellars under the ruins of an old castel have to check on themselves: until the end of the 19th century, it wasn’t at all customary to have complete basements under castle buildings. In fact, it was quite the contrary, with many cellars built outside of the contours of the building. Ultimately, in the case of later build upon, old structures were simply built over. These
two (searchers) do not show a spectacular finding, but their work
gives reason to pursue further investigations in those ruins. Castle
Rodenstein was built on territory that was purchased by the Crumbach family in
the 13th century. The
castle was inhabited until 1635, after that year it fell into disrepair.
Its materials were looted by local residents for use in their private
houses until a certain interests of monument preservation came up in the middle
of the 19th century. In the "Darmstaedter Tagblatt" (a newspaper) of January 27th, 1951, the local historian Rev. Theodor Meisinger mentions a treasure hunt which took place in the year 1754. The result, success or failure, is not passed on. Schuck
and Schneider searched the ruins with the divining rod systematically.
Their work resulted in a locating of several “hollow space anomalies”.
At the place where the so-called “Steinerner Stock” (name of a part of the
castlebuildings) previously was existing, they divined three hollow
spaces next to one another totaling approximately two and a half by six
meters and another one traversing the three like a corridor. Furthermore
they discoverd a (subterranean) tunnel connecting one of the cellarrooms with
the milltower. Following the course of that tunnel they sensed a
separation due to a cave -in. In
their "Discovery Report" Schuck and Schneider show further
“hollow space anomalies” within the two exterior walls in the west of the
castle, in the “bailey” (which is a courtyard for defensive purposes between
the exterior walls to the south) and in the southwest corner of the castle
where a tower once existed. After their Report the hollow space
under the towerruins is approximately four by eight meters and connected with
the the basement of the milltower, too.
Under
an entrance hole going through a cellar ceiling of 50 centimetres a the room of
a former cellar was found. Up to the ceiling the room was filled with
earth. It appears that debris was shoveled in from outside and that,
afterwards, when the cellar was nearly filled, the original entrance was
completely hidden from outside. The high level of conductance of the underground (obtained through geo-electrical measurements) at this location is explained by the composition of the filling materials, such as clay, sand, brick, plant fibers there. The filling of the cellar extends until approximately 50 centimeters from the vaulted slab ceiling. Schuck and Schneider, who operate as "Forschungsgemeinschaft Radiaesthetische Feldanomalie Detektion" (in English: Group for researching the possibilities of useing divining methods to locate subterranean hollow spaces and groundwater occurrences) in the city of Weil am Rhein are happy with the results. They have seen their methods validated. A
complete excavation of all of the located cellar spaces would require
the engagement of a local historian, along with the permission of the property
owner as well as an excavation permit from the Hessian State Office of
Conservation and Preservation. Stephan
Goerisch
Pictures to illustrate the project
Contours
of the Castleruins as of ca. 1640 showing the divined
Looking in direction of the outer wall (1.50 meters) with former "door" to get outside of the cellar.
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