Within German Hoaxes
How Fake Artefacts Rewrote the German Past
The Beringer stones and Prillwitz idols gained authority by supplying physical proof for histories that scholars hoped to find.
On this page
- The claims made for the stones and idols
- Why eighteenth century scholars accepted them
- How exposure failed to erase their influence
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Introduction
Some of Germany’s most influential historical hoaxes were not fake documents or sensational newspaper stories. They were physical objects that seemed to provide missing evidence for an ancient past. In the eighteenth century, when archaeology was still emerging and many questions about Europe’s pre-Christian history remained unanswered, forged artefacts could acquire extraordinary authority. A carved stone or bronze idol appeared more convincing than speculation because it looked like tangible proof.
Two collections became especially important: the Würzburg “lying stones” associated with Johann Beringer and the Prillwitz idols supposedly recovered from the lost Slavic sanctuary of Rethra. Although very different in form, both exploited the same weakness. They offered material evidence for stories scholars wanted to be true. Even after they were exposed as forgeries, their influence lingered, shaping debates about Germany’s ancient landscape, religions and peoples for decades.[Wikipedia]WikipediaBeringer's Lying StonesDecember 5, 2025 — Beringer's Lying Stones (German: Lügensteine) are pieces of limestone which were carved into the shape of various fict…
The claims made for the stones and idols
The Beringer stones emerged in Würzburg in 1725. They were pieces of limestone carved with images of animals, plants, celestial symbols and inscriptions. Johann Bartholomäus Adam Beringer, a respected physician and naturalist, accepted them as remarkable fossils and published them in an elaborate illustrated work in 1726. Some stones even appeared to contain sacred lettering, encouraging interpretations that connected natural history with divine intervention. At a time when the origins of fossils were still disputed, the stones seemed capable of transforming scientific understanding.[Wikipedia]WikipediaBeringer's Lying StonesDecember 5, 2025 — Beringer's Lying Stones (German: Lügensteine) are pieces of limestone which were carved into the shape of various fict…
The Prillwitz idols claimed to solve a different mystery. From the late eighteenth century onward, bronze figurines and decorated plates were presented as relics from Rethra, a famous but lost religious centre of the medieval Polabian Slavs. Their promoters argued that the objects preserved images of pagan gods and inscriptions from a vanished culture. If genuine, they would have provided one of the richest surviving collections of evidence for pre-Christian religion in northern Germany. A lavish publication in 1771 helped spread the claim across European scholarly circles.[Wikipedia]WikipediaPrillwitz idolsPrillwitz idols
In both cases the artefacts promised more than isolated discoveries. They appeared to fill major gaps in historical knowledge. The stones seemed to reveal hidden truths about nature and creation. The idols seemed to reveal a lost religious world. Their value depended precisely on the fact that little reliable evidence already existed.[Wikipedia]WikipediaPrillwitz idolsPrillwitz idols
Why eighteenth-century scholars accepted them
Modern readers often wonder how such obvious fakes gained support. The answer lies less in individual gullibility than in the intellectual conditions of the eighteenth century.
Natural history was undergoing rapid change. Fossils were not yet universally understood as remains of ancient organisms. Competing explanations included unusual mineral growths, divine signs and processes that no longer fit modern geology. The Beringer stones entered a field where established answers did not yet exist. Strange specimens therefore seemed less implausible than they would today.[uni-wuerzburg.de]bibliothek.uni-wuerzburg.deWürzburg Lying Stones - University Library30 Jul 2025 — To this day, much about the story remains unclear: Who was behind the forgeries?…
The Prillwitz idols exploited a different uncertainty. Scholars knew that Slavic peoples had inhabited parts of what is now Germany, but evidence for their religious practices was sparse. Antiquarians searched eagerly for traces of temples, sacred sites and deities. The idols appeared to provide exactly the material culture that researchers hoped to discover. Because authentic comparison material was limited, it was difficult to judge whether the objects truly belonged to the early medieval world they claimed to represent.[Wikipedia]WikipediaPrillwitz idolsPrillwitz idols
Authority also played a role. Learned books, detailed illustrations and elite collectors gave both sets of objects an appearance of legitimacy. Once artefacts entered scholarly networks, their status could become self-reinforcing. If respected figures discussed them seriously, later readers often assumed that basic questions of authenticity had already been settled.[Wikipedia]WikipediaPrillwitz idolsPrillwitz idols
How the deceptions unravelled
The Beringer affair eventually collapsed because the carvings themselves became impossible to ignore. Contemporary investigations concluded that the stones had been manufactured rather than naturally formed. Court proceedings followed, and traditional accounts identified academic rivals as key participants in the deception. Yet even today historians continue to debate important details, including the exact roles of those involved and whether the story was more complicated than the familiar tale of a professor fooled by enemies. Recent scholarship has reopened questions about responsibility while accepting that the specimens themselves were forged.[archaeology.org]archive.archaeology.orgArchaeology MagazineArchaeology Magazine - The Beringer HoaxFar from dying as a result of his shame, Beringer initiated legal proceedings…
The Prillwitz idols suffered a slower decline. Doubts appeared almost immediately, but many supporters continued defending the collection. Over time, closer examination of the inscriptions, iconography and manufacturing methods revealed inconsistencies with genuine early medieval artefacts. By the nineteenth century, scholarly opinion increasingly regarded the idols as archaeological forgeries rather than authentic relics from Rethra.[Wikipedia]WikipediaPrillwitz idolsPrillwitz idols
What is striking is that exposure was not instantaneous. Neither case ended the moment criticism appeared. Believers could point to earlier endorsements, published illustrations and the absence of definitive alternatives. The same factors that had helped establish credibility also helped prolong it.[Wikipedia]WikipediaPrillwitz idolsPrillwitz idols
How exposure failed to erase their influence
The failure of these artefacts did not erase their cultural impact. Beringer’s stones remained famous long after they were recognised as fake. Copies survived in museums and collections, and the story became a cautionary tale in the history of geology and palaeontology. Ironically, the forged objects gained a second life as evidence about scientific error rather than natural history.[sciencedirect.com]sciencedirect.comJ. B. A. Beringer of Würzburg, were presented to Professor W. Buckland of Oxford in 1835.Read more…
The Prillwitz idols had an even broader historical afterlife. Their significance extended beyond archaeology because they helped shape ideas about Slavic antiquity, regional identity and the search for ancient national origins. Even after specialists rejected them, images and descriptions continued circulating. They influenced popular understandings of a supposedly lost pagan world and became part of wider debates about the early history of northern Europe.[ResearchGate]researchgate.net339707613 Slavic Antiquities and Forgeries as Means for the Shaping of CanonsResearchGate(PDF) Slavic Antiquities and Forgeries as Means for the…2 Jun 2026 — A forged antiquity is basically an objectification in…
This persistence reveals an important feature of historical forgery. A fake object can continue influencing culture after its authenticity has collapsed. Once an artefact has supplied a compelling story, the story often proves harder to eliminate than the object itself.
What these forgeries reveal about the invention of the past
The Beringer stones and the Prillwitz idols were successful because they supplied physical evidence for histories that scholars hoped to find. Their creators did not simply invent objects. They identified intellectual gaps and produced artefacts tailored to fill them.
The stones exploited uncertainty about the natural world. The idols exploited uncertainty about ancient religion and ethnicity. Both demonstrate how forged evidence can flourish when genuine evidence is scarce and expectations are strong. The forgeries did not create interest in Germany’s ancient past; they borrowed authority from existing curiosity and redirected it.[uni-wuerzburg.de]bibliothek.uni-wuerzburg.deWürzburg Lying Stones - University Library30 Jul 2025 — To this day, much about the story remains unclear: Who was behind the forgeries?…
For that reason, these cases remain among the most revealing episodes in Germany’s history of deception. They show that historical fraud is rarely just about a dishonest object. It is also about the desires, assumptions and unanswered questions that allow a false artefact to become believable.[uni-wuerzburg.de]bibliothek.uni-wuerzburg.deWürzburg Lying Stones - University Library30 Jul 2025 — To this day, much about the story remains unclear: Who was behind the forgeries?…
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Endnotes
1.
Source: Wikipedia
Title: Beringer’s Lying Stones
Link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beringer%27s_Lying_Stones
Source snippet
December 5, 2025 — Beringer's Lying Stones (German: Lügensteine) are pieces of limestone which were carved into the shape of various fict...
Published: December 5, 2025
2.
Source: Wikipedia
Title: Prillwitz idols
Link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prillwitz_idols
3.
Source: bibliothek.uni-wuerzburg.de
Link:https://www.bibliothek.uni-wuerzburg.de/en/about-us/events/exhibition-fakt-fake/wuerzburg-lying-stones/
Source snippet
Würzburg Lying Stones - University Library30 Jul 2025 — To this day, much about the story remains unclear: Who was behind the forgeries?...
4.
Source: Wikipedia
Title: Würzburger Lügensteine
Link:https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/W%C3%BCrzburger_L%C3%BCgensteine
5.
Source: Wikipedia
Title: Johann Beringer
Link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Beringer
6.
Source: researchgate.net
Title: 339707613 Slavic Antiquities and Forgeries as Means for the Shaping of Canons
Link:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339707613_Slavic_Antiquities_and_Forgeries_as_Means_for_the_Shaping_of_Canons
Source snippet
ResearchGate(PDF) Slavic Antiquities and Forgeries as Means for the...2 Jun 2026 — A forged antiquity is basically an objectification in...
7.
Source: archive.archaeology.org
Link:https://archive.archaeology.org/online/features/hoaxes/beringer.html
Source snippet
Archaeology MagazineArchaeology Magazine - The Beringer HoaxFar from dying as a result of his shame, Beringer initiated legal proceedings...
8.
Source: sciencedirect.com
Link:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016787874800751
Source snippet
J. B. A. Beringer of Würzburg, were presented to Professor W. Buckland of Oxford in 1835.Read more...
9.
Source: researchgate.net
Link:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/378971394_The_first_case_of_paleontological_fraud_Beringers_Lugensteine_reconsidered
10.
Source: hoaxes.org
Title: the lying stones of dr. beringer
Link:https://hoaxes.org/archive/permalink/the_lying_stones_of_dr._beringer
11.
Source: amusingplanet.com
Title: the lying stones of adam beringer
Link:https://www.amusingplanet.com/2022/03/the-lying-stones-of-adam-beringer.html
Additional References
12.
Source: geologie.nu
Link:https://geologie.nu/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/148-2024-Reumer-Rev.Paleobiol.-on-Beringers-LugensteineVERKLEIND-BESTAND.pdf
Source snippet
Originally, there were perhaps as many as two thousand of these fake fossils (Beringer, 1726, p. 83: 'circiter duo.Read more...
13.
Source: youtube.com
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvOyLAJSNP0
Source snippet
Prillwitz idols The Shigir Idol Miniminuteman...
14.
Source: youtube.com
Title: The Great Fossil Hoax: How 18th Century Rivalry Fooled a Scientist
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LDtcxIq1Ok
Source snippet
Introduction to Medieval Slavic Paganism...
15.
Source: youtube.com
Title: 25 Biggest Ancient Discovery Hoaxes in History
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ae1TQo62LXE
Source snippet
Beringer’s Lying Stones (1726) – The Famous Academic Hoax in Germany...
16.
Source: youtube.com
Title: Science Scams
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koitkeqoeHQ
Source snippet
The Great Fossil Hoax: How 18th Century Rivalry Fooled a Scientist...
17.
Source: facebook.com
Title: beringers lying stones are hoax fossils from 1725 created and placed at dig site
Link:https://www.facebook.com/morethanadodo/posts/beringers-lying-stones-are-hoax-fossils-from-1725-created-and-placed-at-dig-site/923524896885281/
18.
Source: facebook.com
Title: beringers lying stones from würzburg carved limestones from 1725 made to fool un
Link:https://www.facebook.com/museum.of.artifacts/posts/beringers-lying-stones-from-w%C3%BCrzburg-carved-limestones-from-1725-made-to-fool-un/974555984706594/
19.
Source: youtube.com
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phqnRzQgntY
Source snippet
25 Biggest Ancient Discovery Hoaxes in History...
20.
Source: geological-digressions.com
Title: beringers lying stones fraud and absurdity in science
Link:https://www.geological-digressions.com/beringers-lying-stones-fraud-and-absurdity-in-science/
21.
Source: blog.library.si.edu
Title: a heavy hoax the lying stones of johann beringer
Link:https://blog.library.si.edu/blog/2019/07/25/a-heavy-hoax-the-lying-stones-of-johann-beringer/
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