GEOPARK PORPHYRY COUNTRY – formed by supervolcanism and inland ice glaciers

Geoportals: Visitor & Experience Centres

Geoportal Museum Steinarbeiterhaus
A journey back in time to the life of a family of quarry workers around 1910; technical exhibition on stone quarrying, stone transport and stone processing in the open-air area. – Kirchgasse 5, 04808 Lossatal, OT Hohburg

Geoportal Mügeln railway station
„The World of Kaolin“ with multimedia exhibition on the most important raw material for porcelain production and Europe’s largest narrow-gauge railway network. – Bahnhofstrasse 2, 04769 Mügeln

Geoportal „Erden der Keramik“ („Clay for Ceramics“)
Creative centre all about the raw material clay in the artists‘ house Schaddelmühle; open-air gallery with ceramic sculptures – Zur Schaddelmühle 5, 04668 Grimma, OT Schaddel

Geoportal Porphyry House
Visitor and exhibition centre dedicated to the quarrying of the Rochlitz porphyry tuff on Rochlitzer Berg; Gleisberg quarry and porphyry nature trail – Rochlitz Mountain, 09306 Rochlitz

Geoportal Röcknitz
Supervolcano exhibition with fire-breathing volcanoes; evidence of the Ice Ages in the geo-adventure garden; „Fred Porphyrstein“ volcano playground – An der Wasserburg 1 and 3, 04808 Thallwitz, OT Röcknitz

GeoExperienceWorkshop
Stone & Earth Raw Materials Competence Centre with exhibitions „Porphyry, Tuff & Co“ and “ Precious Stones in Saxony – Treasures in Porphyry“, creative and show workshop – Thomas-Müntzer-Gasse 4c, 04687 Trebsen

Outstanding National geotopes

1 – Glacial striations on the Spielberg
2 – Gaudlitzberg
3 – Spitzberg Quarry
4 – Wolfsberg Quarry
5 – Wind and glacial striations on the Kleiner Berg
6 – Wachtelberg Quarry and Plant Protection Area
7 – Beucha Kirchbruch quarry
8 – Rock face Haselberg
9 – Quarry at Collmberg
10 – Gattersburg porphyry at the Grimma suspension bridge
11 – „Petrified lake“ Börtewitz
12 – Millstone quarry at Hasenbach
13 – Alluvial pond quarries
14 – „Large Monolith“ and „Devil’s Stone“
15 – Red porphyry wall at Mildenstein Castle
16 – Parthe Spring „Gossenborn“
17 – Gleisberg quarry on the Rochlitz Hill
18 – Eulenkluft rock face

National Geotopes – Impressive Windows into the Earth’s History

The Geopark and its geologists are proud to point out geotopes of international importance.

Granite porphyry in the Beucha Kirchbruch quarry
Rising magma solidifies deep in the earth’s crust, where it slowly cools to form the granite porphyry. It was used, for example, in the Battle of the Nations Monument in Leipzig. 

Glacier and wind striations near Hohburg
The porphyry layers, many hundreds of metres thick, were elevated to the surface over millions of years of earth’s history. During the ice ages several hundred thousand years ago, they were abraded by the inland ice and scarred by sandstorms.

Rochlitz porphyry tuff in the Gleisberg quarry on Rochlitz Mountain
About 290 million years ago, the region was dominated by supervolcanoes. Lava, ash and pyroclastic deposits such as the Rochlitz Porphyry Tuff collected in caleras. As an „IUGS Heritage Stone“, it is one of the world’s most important construction stones.

Legend

Geoportals
Döllnitz Railway (Mügeln Region)
National Geotopes
Outstanding Geotopes
other geotopes
active mining
historical mining