Leopold von Buch Monument

The Buch Monument, named after the German geologist Leopold von Buch, is one of the most important geological natural monuments in Austria.

In the middle of the limestone and sandstone formations lie about 20 granite blocks of different sizes, the largest bearing an inscription in honour of Leopold von Buch. The granite blocks are a foreign rock occurrence.

Granite in the area of the Pre-Alps on the border between the Limestone Alps and the Flyscher Zone is a geological peculiarity. The rock was brought here by the formation of the Alps and various sliding processes. At first it was assumed that the granite belonged to the Bohemian Massif, but various investigations revealed that the granite blocks belonged to the Gresten cliff zone.

The rock blocks probably detached from the continental slope about 40-50 million years ago and slid into the Pennine Ocean. The age of the granite has been determined to be 360 million years.

Another special feature is not a geological, but rather a botanical rarity. For example, more than 100 different mosses can be found on these granite blocks, many of which are on the endangered species list. These are therefore only to be found here and in small areas of the Central Alps.