Stone monuments and abandoned quarries –ways of restoration in Germany through times
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21701/bolgeomin/137.1/008Keywords:
Building stones, decoration stone, quarry, stone restorationAbstract
Numerous buildings and monuments in the cultural heritage in Germany are made of stone. Increasingly, quarries are closing and the original stone is no longer available as a substitute material. Various ways of dealing with this situation in the past are presented here using 6 examples: Cologne Cathedral, Freiburg Münster, the Stone Bridge in Regensburg, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Monument at Porta Westphalica, Old National Gallery in Berlin and the Picture Gallery of Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam. It is shown how the replacement stones were selected at different times and under different economic and political conditions when the original rock was no longer available. In two cases, old quarries were (temporarily) reactivated. For the other buildings, other, available stones were used for restoration or reconstruction. In one example, this replacement was reversed after the original material became available again. The ways of decision-making, advantages and disadvantages as well as experiences are presented and discussed in this contribution.
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