The Ice Age Erratics of Füssen

Quietly resting on their rocky pedestal in the old streets of Füssen, the two rocks appear to be utterly inconspicuous, yet their diminutive sign reveals an incredible history. Way back, in the days of the Würm Ice Age, around seventy thousand to ten thousand years ago, chunks of ice from other worlds merged in the south of Germany.

One glacier came from the Lechtal Alps, bearing its load of crushed rock in front of it. Another piece of earth, locked in ice, advanced from the distant north, slowly making its way through Europe from the ancient days of Scandinavia.

Smooth chunks of pale limestone have been making their way for millions of years, adhering to the flow of melting ice from the Alps, just as they did in the days of the reptiles in the swamps. Next to them, dark stone, long before the first creatures with bony skeletons crawled up onto the beach, was born deep inside what would one day become Norway or Sweden. Most people just pass by without even turning their heads.