Drachenhöhle near Mixnitz
| Drachenhöhle near Mixnitz
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 Cave entrance |
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| Location: | Röthelstein near Bruck an der Mur , Styria / A | |
| Height : | 947 m above sea level A. | |
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Geographic location: |
47 ° 19 '33 " N , 15 ° 22' 46" E | |
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| Cadastral number: | 2839/1 | |
| Type: | Karst cave | |
| Discovery: | 65,000–31,000 BC Chr | |
| Lighting: | No | |
| Overall length: | 4,495 m | |
| Level difference: | 250 m (+50 m / -200 m) | |
| Length of the show cave area: |
542 m (guided tour) | |
| Particularities: | archaeological site | |
| Website: | [1] | |
The Drachenhöhle , formerly also called Kogellucken , near Mixnitz is located 950 m above sea level. A. in Röthelstein south of Bruck an der Mur , Styria in Austria .
Finds of Paleolithic stone tools from the Aurignacia and remains of fireplaces from the warm phase of the Würm Ice Age between 65,000 and 31,000 BC BC document an early visit to the cave by humans. There are around 800 artifacts from the main cultural layer .
The cave has always been known to the population, as the fifteen meter high and twenty meter wide portal can be seen from afar. Numerous cave bear bones were thought to be the remains of dragons. The legend of the Mixnitz dragon slayer testifies to this in particular .
After the First World War , due to a lack of fertilizers , the removal of the up to twelve meter thick deposits of phosphate earth was started. For this purpose a cable car was built to the cave entrance. With a mining of 3000 tons, the Drachenhöhle was the main source of the Austrian cave fertilizer campaign and contributed to the discovery of numerous cave bear bones. The number of individuals found is estimated at 30,000. Some cave bear bones can be viewed in the Landesmuseum Joanneum in Graz and in the Natural History Museum in Vienna .
History of exploration
- In 1387 Pastor Otto von Bruck reached the great cathedral 500 meters after the entrance. The coat of arms stone reminds of this expedition
- In 1921, in the course of mining cave manure, the wind hole was discovered, a widely branched and difficult to drive side section with shafts
- In 1923 Kurt Ehrenberg (1896–1979) completed his habilitation with his work “The ontogenetic development of the cave bear from the dragon cave of Mixnitz, Styria” at the Paleobiological Institute of the University of Vienna
- In 1931 the monograph Die Drachenhöhle bei Mixnitz by the paleontologists Othenio Abel and Georg Kyrle was published
- In 1973, members of the State Association for Speleology in Styria began to precisely measure the main passage and the wind hole
- In 1978, the study was the association of caving in Langenwang continued
- In 1983, the St.Lorenzen / Mürz Valley Cave Bears Association took over the research
literature
- Othenio Abel , Georg Kyrle (Red.): The dragon cave near Mixnitz . Speleological monographs, Volume 7/8 and Volume 9. Österreichische Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1931.
- Robert Bouchal, Josef Wirth: Cave Guide Austria - Over 100 caves with sketches, plans, access descriptions and 150 photos . Pichler Verlag, Vienna 2001, ISBN 3-85431-234-2 , pp. 207-210.
Web links
- Drachenhöhle community of Pernegg an der Mur
- The Mixnitz dragon slayer
- Way to the dragon cave. In: Das Vaterland , No. 227/1889, August 20, 1889, p. 3. bottom right. (Online at ANNO ). .