Cottaer Spitzberg

The Cottaer Spitzberg is a 390.8 m high basalt dome on the western edge of Saxon Switzerland. Since 1979 the hill has been a protected area due to its geological and botanical features.Location and areaThe hill, which was once also known Cottaer Spitze, is located on the plateau between the valleys of the Gottleuba to the east and the Bahre to the west. It rises above the village of Cotta at its northern foot as well as the local area by at least 70 metres and forms a clear landmark in the countryside.GeologyThe Cottaer Spitzberg was formed as a result of the Tertiary breakthrough of basalt through the Cretaceous sandstone sediments of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains. In geological region that is composed largely of sandstone, granite and gneiss the hill is very much a geological exception.The hill is one of a line of volcanic inselbergs of which the Stolpener Burgberg, the Wilisch and the Geising are the best-known. On the rocky summit of the Spitzberg, the grey and black columns of the trachyte basalt are exposed. They are each around 30 centimetres thick, rising almost vertically and were intensively quarried in the 19th century by a quarry company. Only a remnant of the summit remains, because a triangulation column of the central European meridian arc and Saxon State Survey Office had been erected on it in 1865.