Kriemhildenstuhl, Roman quarry in Bad Dürkheim, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany

Kriemhildenstuhl is a Roman stone quarry on the southeastern side of the Kästenberg mountain, situated about 250 meters above sea level. The site shows large sandstone terraces and rock formations shaped by extraction work.

The 22nd Legion, stationed at Mogontiacum (Mainz) some 60 km away, worked this quarry around 200 CE, cutting blocks 1.2 to 3 m long from the Karlstal sandstone beds. Excavations took place in 1884, 1893/94, 1916/17, 1934/35 and 1937–1939; in the Nazi era attempts to prove an Old Germanic cult site failed, as the sun wheels were struck into rock already worked by the Romans.

The name Kriemhildenstuhl references a legend from the Nibelungen saga, though the place was actually a Roman stone quarry. This naming shows how local stories and historical reality blend at such sites.

The site is accessible year-round and can be reached via walking paths from surrounding areas or by train to Bad Dürkheim. Visitors should wear comfortable shoes, as the terrain is uneven.

Among the carvings are horses, perhaps the emblem of the legionary detachment working here, alongside figures of men, phalli and vulvas. Whether the sexual symbols served a cult or were workers' graffiti is debated. Sun wheels and swastikas were cut into rock already worked in Roman times, which undermined later Germanic interpretations.