Already by the early Middle Ages, the area's red buntsandstein was highly sought-after, with products such as grindstones and columns being hewn in the surrounding woods. The so-called "" were made near Miltenberg. They are special bunter columns likely intended for Mainz Cathedral when it was built around the year 1000. The master builder, however, apparently decided that they were not needed, so they never became part of the cathedral. One of the monoliths now stands in Mainz’ cathedral square, a gift to the city on the occasion of the cathedral's 1,000th anniversary in 1975. Other columns are at Munich "(Bayerisches Nationalmuseum)" and Nuremberg "(Germanisches Nationalmuseum)".