Epidote

specimen number:
1052864

location:
Knappenwand, Salzburg, Austria

description:

Classic specimen from Austria, a grouping of deep green lustrous terminated crystals of epidote. In great condition. This piece dates to the early 20th century if not late 19th century.

Knappenwand, located in the Untersulzbachtal of Salzburg, Austria, is a world-famous mineral locality discovered in 1865 by Alois Wurnitsch. Geologically, the site is defined by an amphibolite lens embedded within the crystalline basement of the Tauern Window, where alpine tectonic activity and hydrothermal circulation created fissure-filling clefts. Mineralogically, it is celebrated globally for yielding some of the finest, largest, and most lustrous epidote crystals ever found, frequently associated with byssolite, apatite, and titanite. Historically, commercial and scientific extraction began under a lease obtained by Andreas Bergmann in 1874, and while systematic heavy mining operations concluded in the early decades of the twentieth century, the site remains an iconic legendary reference point for classic alpine mineralogy.

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