Bilstein Cave
| Bilstein Cave
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 Bilstein Cave: Hall of the 60 Giants |
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| Location: | Sauerland , Germany | |
| Height : | 350 m above sea level NN | |
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Geographic location: |
51 ° 25 '34 " N , 8 ° 19' 24" E | |
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| Geology: | Rhenish Slate Mountains | |
| Discovery: | 1887 | |
| Show cave since: | 1888 | |
| Lighting: | electric | |
| Overall length: | 1700 m | |
| Length of the show cave area: |
450 m | |
| Average annual number of visitors: | 30,300 (2008-2012) | |
| Current visitors: | 32,500 (2012) | |
| Website: | http://www.bilsteinhoehle.de/ | |
The Bilsteinhöhle is a cave system in the Arnsberg Forest Nature Park in North Rhine-Westphalia , Germany . In addition to the show cave, there are other cave parts, some of which are connected to the show cave.
Geographical location
The Bilstein Cave is located in Westphalia just under three kilometers (as the crow flies ) southwest of the core town of the Sauerland town of Warstein . In the “Warsteiner Wald”, the eastern part of the nature park mentioned at the beginning, the best way to get to the cave is via the “L 735” state road , which connects Warstein with its west-southwestern district of Hirschberg . It is on this street on the east bank of the Bilsteinbach .
The Bilsteinbach disappears in various stream shrinkages at the foot of the Bilsteinfelsen and emerges in a karst spring (the portal of the Bilstein creek cave) directly at the cave parking lot (these karst phenomena are strongly dependent on the water flow of the Bilsteinbach and the level of the karst groundwater). After the stream re-emerges from the karst spring, the previous Bilsteinbach is called "Hirschberger Bach".
Cave description
The Bilstein cave is located in the far west of the Warsteiner saddle , a saddle made of Central Devonian mass limestone , which extends from the Bilstein cave in the west to Kallenhardt in the east, i.e. over about eight kilometers. The cave has a total passage length of around 1700 meters, of which around 450 meters are open to visitors as a show cave that is open all year round . The depth of the cave is about 50 meters.
Both paleontological and prehistoric finds have been made in the Bilstein Cave. The bone finds originate mainly from the Glaciation of the Vistula , most of which have been identified as cave bears , cave lions , cave hyenas and reindeer . From the various human occupation phase comes a Mesolithic hunter station, a copper dagger of Beaker culture (about 2300 BC), a cylinder jar of Urnfield culture (about 800 BC) and numerous finds from the pre-Roman Iron Age (about 500 BC), including pottery, jewelry and human bones.
Like numerous other caves in the Sauerland and beyond, the Iron Age finds indicate a cultic significance of the Bilstein cave . These are likely to be related to funeral rites . Other theories ( cannibalism ) are absurd.
The Bilstein cave as a show cave
On September 17, 1887, a previously unknown part of the Bilstein cave system was discovered by Warsteiner forest worker Franz Kersting during road construction work on behalf of the Warsteiner Beautification Association. It was only after this discovery that the cave system was given the name Bilsteinhöhle (the name Warsteiner Höhle was initially also under discussion). The geologist Emil Carthaus was commissioned with the development work so that the cave could be used as a show cave. Emil Carthaus explored the entire cave system and carried out excavations in all caves around the Bilstein rock. For the first lighting of the show cave , a small gas factory was built directly below the cave exit, in which water gas for cave lighting was produced. The original structure (nine by six meters, about five meters high) is still on the ground floor of what will later be the youth hostel .
The first guided tours in the Bilstein cave started 10 days after the discovery of the cave. The cave explorer Franz Kersting was also the first cave guide (together with his work colleague Caspar Eßfeld, who was also involved in the path construction work that led to the discovery of the cave). Interested visitors were led in small groups from today's cave exit to the “Great Hall”. In November 1887 the cave was closed in order to be able to carry out the necessary construction work for the show cave operation over the winter. In May 1888 the Bilstein cave was reopened to cave visitors. In the course of the development work, a shaft to the cave entrance was expanded. This shaft served as a cave entrance for 40 years. After 40 years the staircase construction in the shaft was rusted, so that this shaft was abandoned. After a long discussion, a new cave entrance was finally created in 1937, a connecting tunnel from "Culture Cave 3" to the stalactite cave. This tunnel was ceremoniously opened in 1937 as part of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the cave discovery. Since then, "Kulturhöhle 3" has been used as a cave entrance.
The annual number of visitors to the Bilstein Cave almost reached the 100,000-person mark several times (most recently in 1991 with around 96,000 visitors), but is currently significantly lower (lowest level in 2010 with less than 27,000 visitors).
Already in the winter of 1887/88 a restoration building was erected below the cave on the Warstein-Hirschberg road. A room museum was added to this building, in which the finds from the cave excavations were presented. In the 1950s, the old building was torn down and replaced by a large new building - hotel, restaurant, hall. In 1998 the building was sold to the Warsteiner Brewery , which renovated it after a few years of closure. Hotel operations have not been resumed. Since April 2012 the association "Bilsteintal eV" is the leaseholder of the gastronomy.
On September 1, 2011, a lease agreement was signed between the city of Warstein and the “Bilsteintal eV” association founded in May 2011. Since that day, the non-profit association Bilsteintal eV has been operating the Bilsteinhöhle show cave and the wildlife park in the Bilsteintal.
The former gas factory and later youth hostel
The first cave lighting was powered by water gas, which was produced in the gas factory directly below the cave exit. This lighting turned out to be unreliable. That is why the cave lighting was switched to electric lighting as early as 1905. Since a grid connection was not yet available, a power generator was installed in the former gas factory, which had to be operated with Ergin. The connection of the cave lighting to the electrical network took place in 1922. As a result, the building of the former gas factory was no longer needed. The first Warsteiner youth hostel was set up in these rooms . In 1925 there was an increase to a total of four usable floors, and an extension in 1926. In the spring of 1926 the youth hostel opened as a cave in the Bilstein valley. In 1972 the youth hostel was closed because it no longer complied with the applicable fire protection regulations. The building was leased to a Catholic priest, who did the renovation and used the building for youth camps and similar events. This use was given up around 2000. Since 2005 the ground floor has been used as an exhibition area (information exhibition about the Bilstein cave) and sales room. On March 19, 2009, serious damage to load-bearing beams was found in the attic and the building was then closed due to the risk of collapse. In July 2009 the council of the city of Warstein decided to completely demolish the old youth hostel, as repairing the damage is no longer worthwhile and it is not possible or sensible to strive for partial demolition solutions for building law and financial considerations. In order to avert the demolition, craftsmen and donors were found who took over the repair of the damage. The repair did not incur any costs for the city of Warstein. Under these conditions, the demolition decision was suspended for the time being. Another condition was that a coherent concept for the future use of the building should be presented.
The non-profit association "Bilsteintal eV", founded in May 2011, took over the building of the old youth hostel in addition to the show cave and the wildlife park with the lease agreement of September 1, 2011. The aim of the association is to develop the youth hostel into the informative center of the Bilstein valley. As a first step in October 2011, the cash desk of the Bilstein cave was relocated to the building. In December 2011 the Bilsteintal eV association started preparatory measures for the renovation of the building. After a thorough renovation, the upper floors will house an information exhibition on the Bilstein cave and the various historical backgrounds of the Bilstein valley.
In connection with the construction of the youth hostel, further leisure facilities were created in the Bilsteintal in the first half of the 20th century, a football field (so-called cave sports field ) above the cave and a bathing pond above the Bilstein rock, which was created by the damming of the Bilsteinbach. The swimming pond soon had to be abandoned, the football field is still usable today and was expanded in the 1970s to include a neighboring barbecue area.
See also
literature
- Emil Carthaus: Guide through the Bilstein caves (stalactite and culture caves) near Warstein in Westphalia. Warstein, 1889.
