Near Laiz, at a crossroads, you can find a block of stone. At first glance, it is unspectacular, but on closer inspection does one realize: this rock is quite different from the limestones usually found in the Swabian Alb – it seems to be a stranger. In fact, it is a boulder that travelled from the Alps in the glaciers of the Ice Age. As the ice had melted, it was carefully laid down.
The stone has now been lying here for over 300,000 years and shows us today the extension of the glacier ice shield on the Swabian Alb. It is called "erratic block" (from Latin errare = "to wander"). Such rare finds are important messengers from the past and tell us the landscape history of the Swabian Alb.
