The Dreifrankenstein is a boundary stone that marks the tripoint

Tripoint

A tripoint, or trijunction , is a geographical point at which the borders of three countries or subnational entities meet....

 where the three Franconian provinces of Upper

Upper Franconia

Upper Franconia is a Regierungsbezirk of the state of Bavaria, southern Germany. It forms part of the historically significant region of Franconia , all now part of the German Federal State of Bayern .With more than 200 independent breweries which brew...

, Middle

Middle Franconia

Middle Franconia is one of the three administrative regions of Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. It is in the west of Bavaria and adjoins the state of Baden-Württemberg...

 and Lower Franconia

Lower Franconia

Lower Franconia is one of the three administrative regions of Franconia in Bavaria , Germany ....

 meet in southern Germany. As part of the regional reforms in 1972 the boundary marker was moved around 7 kilometres as the crow flies

As the crow flies

"As the crow flies" or beelining is an idiom for the shortest route between two points; the geodesic distance.An example is the great-circle distance between Key West and Pensacola, at either end of the U.S...

 to the southeast. Today both points are marked by stones that are referred to as the Old and New Dreifrankenstein.

Old Dreifrankenstein

The Old Dreifrankenstein (Alter Dreifrankenstein) erected in 1892, is a 135 cm high column

Column

A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a vertical structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. For the purpose of wind or earthquake engineering, columns may be designed to resist lateral forces...

 made of sandstone

Sandstone

Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...

. It is located in woodland

Woodland

Ecologically, a woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of...

 on the territory of Sandhügel, several hundred metres west of Kleinbirkach (in the borough of the market town of Ebrach

Ebrach

Ebrach is a community with market rights in the Upper Franconian district of Bamberg and the seat of the administrative community of Ebrach.-Etymology:...

) and east of Ebersbrunn (Markt Geiselwind

Geiselwind

Geiselwind is a market town with 2323 inhabitants in Lower Franconia in the district of Kitzingen in Germany.Autotranslaters may render its name into English as "hostage wind". However, in this case, "Geisel" means a special form of a whip, not a hostage.-Geography:Geiselwind is today in the...

, Lower Franconia) near the source region of the Reiche Ebrach

Reiche Ebrach

Reiche Ebrach is a river of Bavaria, Germany.-See also:*List of rivers of Bavaria...

 stream. Its GPS

Global Positioning System

The Global Positioning System is a space-based global navigation satellite system that provides location and time information in all weather, anywhere on or near the Earth, where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites...

 coordinates

Coordinate system

In geometry, a coordinate system is a system which uses one or more numbers, or coordinates, to uniquely determine the position of a point or other geometric element. The order of the coordinates is significant and they are sometimes identified by their position in an ordered tuple and sometimes by...

 are 49.79233°N 10.46703°E.

New Dreifrankenstein

The New Dreifrankenstein (Neuer Dreifrankenstein), laid in 1979, is a 280 cm high glacial erratic

Glacial erratic

A glacial erratic is a piece of rock that differs from the size and type of rock native to the area in which it rests. "Erratics" take their name from the Latin word errare, and are carried by glacial ice, often over distances of hundreds of kilometres...

 made of muschelkalk

Muschelkalk

The Muschelkalk is a sequence of sedimentary rock strata in the geology of central and western Europe. It has a Middle Triassic age and forms the middle part of the Germanic Trias, that further consists of the Buntsandstein and Keuper...

, in which the coats of arms of the three Franconian provinces

Regierungsbezirk

In Germany, a Government District, in German: Regierungsbezirk – is a subdivision of certain federal states .They are above the Kreise, Landkreise, and kreisfreie Städte...

 have been carved. It is located on an eminence in the Steigerwald forest, southwest of Heuchelheim (in the borough of Schlüsselfeld

Schlüsselfeld

Schlüsselfeld is a town on the southwestern edge of the Upper Franconian district of Bamberg-Geography:Schlüsselfeld lies 24 km southwest of Bamberg in the Steigerwald in the valley of the Reiche Ebrach, 299 m above sea level....

, Upper Franconia), northwest of Freihaslach (Markt Burghaslach

Burghaslach

Burghaslach is a municipality and a market town in the district of Neustadt -Bad Windsheim in Franconia in Bavaria, Germany.- Geography :...

, Middle Franconia) and east of Sixtenberg (Markt Geiselwind, Lower Franconia). Its GPS coordinates are 49.75577°N 10.55121°E.