Alexanderstein, Medieval cross stone in Eldagsen, Germany

The Alexanderstein is a disc-headed cross stone of sandstone, 114 cm tall, up to 62 cm wide and about 22 cm thick, now set on a square plinth at the southwest corner of St. Alexandri Church in Eldagsen. Weathering has rounded the disc into an oval; an equal-armed cross is cut into both faces, and two small crosses are incised side by side in the wedge-shaped shaft below the front cross.

The monument dates from around 1200 and was originally placed near a gallows site along the road between Eldagsen and Alferde. The stone reflects a long medieval tradition of marking judicial and peace sites in the area.

Local legends explain the stone as a Sühnestein, a stone raised in atonement for a killing. One tale says a jealous bell-founder killed his apprentice here; another says two shepherds beat each other to death with their staffs, which earned the stone the name Schäferstein (Shepherds' Stone).

The cross stone is now displayed at St. Alexandri Church in Eldagsen, where an information plaque explains its background. Visitors can see the original and also visit the replica placed at its original location.

The stone was stolen in 1981 and turned up in 2009 at Leuchtenburg near Seitenroda in Thuringia, where a Weimar antiques dealer had given it as a gift; it had supposedly been dug up two metres underground. Identified from photos, it was returned to Eldagsen in October 2013 and set on a plinth at St. Alexandri Church in March 2014.