The Zolnhofen limestone was formed about 150 million years ago in the form of layered sedimentary rocks in a lagoon periodically flooded with fresh sea water. It was mined by the Romans already 2,000 years ago and was used as a building material of the highest quality. The environmentally friendly mining of this thin-layered stone is still done by hand. Processing is also simple enough to achieve an exceptional ecological balance, even when compared to other types of natural stone.
Solnhofen limestone literally at one moment became famous all over the world in 1798 with the invention of lithography. The discovery of Alois Senefelder made a real revolution in the world of fine art, just as once the discovery of typography gave a powerful impetus to the dissemination of texts.
In every printing technology, the printing substrate plays an important role, i.e. a medium with content to be printed. In lithography, a special stone is used for this. Ashnhofen natural stone, slab limestone of extraordinary hardness, is considered the best material for the production of lithographic printing plates all over the world. Even though the era of lithography as a mass printing technology has long passed, this technique, which for the first time made it possible to print an image integrated into the text at a reasonable cost, is still popular among artists. All lithographic stones that are used in the world today are made by the Solnhofen Stone Group, the world leader in the production of ashlofen plates for architects and builders.
Today, this legendary stone is in demand not only among lithographic masters, but also distributed all over the world as an exclusive natural floor covering. The world famous ashhofen slab limestone is undergoing a renaissance. This is due to the unrivaled combination of aesthetics, sustainability and impressive economy. The most legendary limestone in the world is simultaneously the hardest and most dense.
Solnhofen Stone Group is a German holding company that owns four modern stone processing plants and numerous own quarries of Jurassic marble and Solnhofen limestone in Bavaria.
The main products of the Solnhofen Stone Group:
Solnhofener Natural Stone
Limestone MAXBERG®
SSG COLLECTION natural stone collection
SolKer porcelain stoneware®
Solnhofen Stone Group supplies its products all over the world: London, Berlin, Dubai, etc.
In Moscow, Jurassic marble Maxberg - a trademark of SSG - can be seen, for example, on the facades of the objects "Garden Quarters", "Italian Quarters", Barkli Virgin House, "Andreevsky House" on Frunzenskaya, "House on Trubetskoy", "Cherry Garden" at M. Serpukhovskaya Square, in the Sky-Light business center at Leningradsky Prospekt and others.
