Atta cave
Atta cave
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Location: | Attendorn , Germany | |
Geographic location: |
51 ° 7 '30 " N , 7 ° 54' 56" E | |
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Type: | Stalactite cave | |
Discovery: | 1907 | |
Show cave since: | 1907 | |
Lighting: | electric | |
Overall length: | 6670 meters | |
Length of the show cave area: |
1800 meters | |
Particularities: | most visited show cave in Germany | |
Website: | official page |
The Atta cave or Attendorner stalactite cave in Attendorn is one of the largest and most beautiful stalactite caves in Germany , not least because of its diversity and color . With around 150,000 to 200,000 visitors a year, it is the most popular German show cave and an important economic factor for the city, alongside the Teufelshöhle near Pottenstein (156,100 visitors on average between 2006 and 2010) .
The peculiarities include many sintered plumes that are colored by iron oxides. Furthermore, stalactites , stalagmites and stalagnates can be seen. Some parts of calcite crystal formations were brought into the public area of the cave to be displayed there.
Discovery story
The cave was discovered during the demolition of limestone in the quarry of the Biggetaler Kalkwerke on July 19, 1907 and opened up for tourism by the owner in the same year. The cave is owned by the heirs of the quarry owner at the time, Eberhardt Epe.
Other parts of the cave were discovered in 1985 by a group of cave explorers led by Elmar Hammerschmidt. The total length of the cave explored so far is 6000 meters, the exploration has not been completed.
Emergence
The formation of the cave began in the Devonian approx. 400 million years ago, when the area of today's cave was still in a sea bay. In the limestone layers deposited at that time, cavities formed over time due to carbonic acid weathering due to seeping in rainwater and mixture corrosion . See also: Attendorn-Elsper double trough .
In an earthquake several thousand years ago, some stalactites broke off. The cave is inhabited by bats that enter through crevices in the mountain top.
Development
There is a 500 meter long circular path available for the show cave operation. It is accessed by an approximately 90 meter long tunnel through which visitors are led. The original entrance to the north of today's entrance is now closed with a metal door. Cheese is stored in part of the cave and is sold as Atta cheese . A door should reduce the spread of the smell.
Public perception of the Atta cave
According to the Tourist Association of South Sauerland, the cave has already been visited by more than 40 million people. The high admission price and the ban on photography in the cave are criticized. The length of the show cave area of 1800 m specified by the operator is incorrect. In fact, the length of the path is only about 560 m.
Protection expulsion
For many years the Atta Cave was designated as a natural monument of the Atta Cave . In 2006, the landscape plan No. 3 Attendorn - Heggen - Helden was designated as a nature reserve (NSG) Atta cave with a size of 13.25 hectares . In the same year the NSG area was also designated as a Fauna-Flora-Habitat- Area Attendorn stalactite cave . In addition to the cave, a large part of the Stürzenberg, under which the cave is located, belongs to the NSG. This includes u. a. the former limestone quarry north of the cave, about 250 m long. The quarry has a quarry wall up to 60 m high. On the ridge there is a cultural landscape complex with forest, grassland, hedges, field trees and limestone grass remains to the NSG. The grassland is partly made up of oat and Wiesenknopf Stilgen meadows. The forest is partly a canyon forest and a mixed slope forest .
See also
- List of caves in the Sauerland
- List of show caves in Germany
- List of nature reserves in the Olpe district
- List of FFH areas in North Rhine-Westphalia
literature
- Rainer Ahrweiler, Elmar Hammerschmidt: Attendorn stalactite cave. In: Die Höhlen der Attendorn-Elsper Doppelmulde, Karst and Höhle 1991/92, VdHK Munich, ISSN 0342-2062 , pp. 25-36
- District of Olpe: Landscape plan No. 3 Attendorn - Heggen-Helden. Olpe 2006, Atta-Höhle pp. 37-40
Web links
- Homepage of the Atta Cave
- Images of the Atta cave in the image archive of the LWL media center for Westphalia
- "Atta-Höhle" nature reserve in the specialist information system of the State Office for Nature, Environment and Consumer Protection in North Rhine-Westphalia
Individual evidence
- ^ Jürgen Fischbach: Development of an operational tourism marketing concept for the Olpe district. (PDF file: 6.6 MB) 2009, accessed September 26, 2010 .
- ↑ Legal notice of the official website
- ↑ Leisure and action in the South Sauerland holiday region. Tourist working group Süd-Sauerland ( Memento from October 29, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Jochen Duckeck: The Attendorner cave.