Einsiedlerstein

The Einsiedlerstein is a large boulder standing halfway up the eastern slope of the Siriuskogel in Bad Ischl, a town in the Salzkammergut region of Upper Austria. Locally it is also called the Hexenstein or Adlerstein, and the site is protected as a natural monument. The rock sits beneath a single large beech tree and covers about forty to fifty square metres, rising four to five metres above the ground. Geologists recognise the Einsiedlerstein as a glacial erratic carried here by the Traun glacier near the end of the Würm cold period. It consists of broken, sandy limestone from the Roßfeld strata and was probably already cracked when it came to rest on the Siriuskogel. The block was listed as a natural monument in the 19th century under the name Hexenstein or Einsiedlerstein am Siriuskogel. Visitors reach the rock along a footpath that branches off the road to the local inn. The site is quiet, shaded by the beech, and offers a view across the valley toward the Siriuskogelwarte. Traces of faded blue and red paint can still be seen on one worked face, but these modern markings have lost most of their colour.