Nr. on the small map: 1 (Miltenberg)
The Romans already exploited red bunter sandstone needed for their forts around Miltenberg. The so-called “Heunesäulen” bear witness of the “Red-Sandstone-processing” during the (later) Middle Ages. They were carved from a block field at the Bullauer Berg, located between Miltenberg and Mainbullau. The five stately bunter-sandstone-pillars are 7 m (23 ft) long and have a diameter of 1.10 m (3.6 ft).
It is assumed that these pillars were meant to be used in the Mainz Cathedral which was burnt down and destroyed in 1009. Yet, they may possibly be even older, of Roman origin. Why the pillars were never shipped is unknown.
Besides those specimens still present on site, you find further pillars of Miltenberg at the archeological state collection of Munich, inside the German National Museum of Nuremberg and on the Mainz Cathedral Square.
One pillar was set up next to the mooring position of the sightseeing boats in Miltenberg, near the bus parking lot “Pfarrkirche”. Who carved them, when, and for which exact reason, might allow a lot of interpretation, but proceeds to be an unsolved mystery.
