Schwanenstein
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The Schwanenstein is a glacial erratic on the island of Rügen in Germany. It lies about 100 metres east of the harbour at Lohme on the northern shore of the Jasmund peninsula about 20 metres off the beach in the Baltic Sea. It weighs 162 tonnes and has a volume of 60 m3. It is thus the fifth largest erratic of about 20 other large glacial boulders that are part of Rügen's legally protected geotopes.[1] It is stylistically portrayed in Lohme's coat of arms.[2]
The Schwanenstein is made of so-called hammer granite and was very probably transported here from the island of Bornholm during the last ice age. Its reddish appearance is due to the presence of a high proportion of potassium feldspar. On its west side a marked crevice runs through the stone that, over the course of time, has been enlarged by the crystallisation pressure of frozen ice and may well result in the shearing off of a large slab of rock in the near future.[1][2]
