Friedenssteine, Memorial stone site in Bad Kösen, Germany.

The Friedenssteine is a group of four roughly hewn limestone blocks set close together in a shallow arc on a steep slope above the Ilskeweg. Three stones stand side by side, with a fourth rectangular block placed in front of them. Their weathered grey faces carry carved dates, and moss and lichen grow on the flat tops.

The stones were created to commemorate four major peace treaties that shaped German unification in the 1800s. They mark milestones from 1815 through 1871 that led to the formation of a unified German state.

The dates carved into the stones mark the peace treaties of Vienna (1864), Prague (1866), Frankfurt (1871) and the Second Peace of Paris (1815). The three later stones stand close together in a curve, with the 1815 stone set in front of them. The donor is unknown; the Kukulau estate steward Bruno Schmidt is thought to have erected them in the late 19th century.

Reach the site by following the Ilskeweg hiking trail, which passes by the stones. Sturdy footwear is advisable since the stones sit on a steep slope, and the path can be slippery after rain.

The stones' donor was long unknown: no documents turned up in Kösener or Naumburg archives before 2001. Bruno Schmidt, estate steward in Kukulau and member of the Kösener bathing commission, looked after the stones in the late 19th century, and much suggests he also donated and erected them.