Natural Stone – A Companion in Our Everyday Life (Basalt-Mile)
| Naturstein – Natural Stone – A Companion in Our Everyday Life (Basalt-Mile) | |
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| GeoStation at the GeoRoute Tertiär - Industrie -Erlebnis Stöffel-Route | |
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| usable QR-Codes | |
| direct QR-Code: | www.qltr.de/qrka0236 |
Natural Stone – A Companion in Our Everyday Life
At the end of the journey from rock block to gravel, rock products are available in various grain sizes. Examples of these can be seen in the columns next to this text. The most commonly produced types of gravel at Stöffel include sizes of 2-5 mm (left column), 11-16 mm (middle column), and 22-32 mm (right column).
All of these gravel types are primarily used in road construction. For this purpose, they are dried, heated, and mixed with the natural binder bitumen in an asphalt mixing plant. Bitumen is a by-product of the petroleum industry and, unlike tar, is not harmful to the environment. Since 1984, the use of tar in road construction has been banned in Germany. Therefore, when a new road is built today, the process is no longer called "tarring," but "asphalting." Asphalt bound with bitumen can even be used in drinking water reservoir sealing.
Additionally, Stöffel basalt has been increasingly used in the form of mineral wool as an insulating material. For this, the natural stone is melted and shot onto a rotating disc. This creates extremely thin rock fibers that can be further processed into insulation wool. This mineral wool is primarily used for building insulation. Since the year 2000, new processes have allowed the production of insulation materials that no longer need to be classified as special waste after use.
Natural stones like Stöffel basalt accompany us in our everyday lives. Often, we don’t even notice it. In Germany, each person uses about 1 kg of natural stone per hour. This happens, for example, through the use of roads, sidewalks, buildings, trains, airports, and much more. But natural stone is also found in cosmetics, where cleaned and dyed minerals replace plastic-based glitter particles. Thus, natural stone is a product we encounter daily!
Basalt is also an important component in hazard protection. Its high weather resistance makes it the ideal armoury stone. The basalt from the Westerwald region is used throughout the area for protecting riverbanks against erosion and flooding. It has also been used for decades in the construction of dikes along the German and Dutch North Sea coasts.
Looking back at the history of stone extraction in the Westerwald, one must recognize that it was a manual process for many decades. It was only after World War II that mechanization significantly increased in the industry. The use of natural stone contributed significantly to the economic boom in our country over the past centuries. Thousands of quarry workers in the Westerwald made outstanding contributions to this. For example, when traveling by train through the Westerwald today, it is based on the hard work of the previous generations.
Natural Stone – The Foundation of the Economy
Germany is a country with enormous demand for raw materials. The German Raw Materials Agency (DERA) reports that imported raw materials in 2022 amounted to approximately 343 million tons, with a total value of about 311 billion euros. This made raw material imports account for about 20% of Germany's total imports by value. Such a high demand for raw material imports leads to a dependence on the countries of origin.
This makes it all the more important to be aware of the significance of domestic raw materials. One of the few such domestic and economically usable raw materials is natural stone. Significant influencing factors for domestic raw material extraction are primarily the domestic political situation and the acceptance of the raw materials industry by the population. Without road, rail, and house construction, the infrastructure we as a society benefit from today would be unthinkable.
The extraction of natural stone is therefore an indispensable part of securing the future in Rhineland-Palatinate, one of Germany's most resource-rich federal states. A large portion of the rock products produced here at Stöffel are used directly within a 30 km radius of the quarry, thus benefiting the region immediately. A short transport distance also saves significant amounts of CO2 and conserves resources. Additionally, the production facilities create jobs with prospects in the regional labor market.
Verfasser: Carolin Geißler, Christoph Eul und Roger Lang
Stand: 4/2025