Desert cave
| Desert cave
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 The two main entrances to the desert cave |
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| Location: | Pfaffstättner Kogel in the Vienna Woods near Pfaffstätten , Lower Austria | |
| Height : | 370 m above sea level A. | |
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Geographic location: |
48 ° 1 '29.1 " N , 16 ° 14' 7.6" E | |
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| Cadastral number: | 1914/6 | |
| Geology: | dolomite | |
| Type: | young tertiary surf cave | |
| Show cave since: | Opened on April 22, 1925 (according to cave cadastre ), until 1938 | |
| Lighting: | Only candles or magnesium lights could be used, not pitch torches | |
| Overall length: | 87 m | |
| Level difference: | 8.5 m (+5 m, −3.5 m) | |
| Average annual number of visitors: | 30,000 during the show cave operation | |
The Einödhöhle , also known as the “bat cave ” until around 1890, is the largest preserved early Tertiary surf cave on the western edge of the Vienna basin . It is located at 370 meters above sea level on the southern slope of the Pfaffstättner Kogel near Pfaffstätten , north of Baden . The path leads through the first hall past the "eaten up wall" into the "throne room", over a few steps you reach the rubble hall, which has adventurously shaped structures. The continuation leads past the “Riesen Einöder” and the “Luckerten Wall” through the “stone sea” to the “Bat exit”, from there past the “Bear Walk” to the exit, a second surf gate.
The cave is a natural monument according to the State Nature Conservation Act with a decision of August 13, 1941 and a natural monument under the Natural Caves Act with a decision of April 16, 1949, cadastral number is 1914/6 .
Surname
The wasteland was first mentioned in 1195 as part of a donation to the Heiligenkreuz monastery . As with many well-known caves, there are some legends about the naming. The best known of these says that Einhard, a monk from St. Gallen reported that a huge person chose the desert cave as his home. This alleged bearer of the name of the desert valley and the cave is said to have been the giant warrior "Einöder", "Ainöther" or "Einher", who is said to have fought on the side of Charlemagne in the Avar War. The giant is said to have impaled as many enemies in a single battle as an entire army. His alleged shelter was not in today's Einödhöhle, but in the "Große Einödhöhle" (1914/5), near the former Einödwirthaus on the valley floor. After a ceiling collapse in the Große Einödhöhle, it was blown up in 1888 due to the threat of collapse. In order to get the name "Einödhöhle", the "Bat Cave" located higher up on the slope was given this name.
history
The caves of the desert valley have been known for many centuries and were used by humans very early on. According to the Baden local researcher Gustav Calliano, the cave was settled in prehistoric times. Prehistoric finds were made in the cave. It is a fact that the cave provided protection especially in troubled times, during the Turkish and French wars. But the natural underground spaces have also served dubious figures as accommodation and as a hiding place for stolen property. The cave also brought little economic benefit: the dolomite gravel was extracted in places and marketed as grit.
In 1925, the Einödhöhle and the nearby 30 m long "Elfenhöhle" (1914/7) were expanded for tourism by the Klosterneuburg Pioneer Battalion and opened as a show cave on April 22nd of the same year. Entry cost 30 groschen. The electric lighting set up in 1925 was soon destroyed by vandals. Candlelight or magnesium light was needed as the use of pitch torches was forbidden. Although up to 30,000 visitors visited the caves annually, operations had to be stopped when the Second World War broke out.
In the last days of the war, the cave served as a safe shelter for more than 380 residents of Pfaffstätt.
On October 22nd, 1982 this cave was declared a “specially protected cave” due to the Lower Austrian Cave Protection Act, so visiting this cave is actually prohibited - except for scientific purposes. Nevertheless, the cave is advertised as a sight on the website of the Pfaffstätten community.
In 1994 the tourist office cleaned the cave mainly from the remains of campfires. This fire had the consequence that the previously occurring bat species, such as Great and Lesser Horseshoe Bat , Giant Noctule and Noctule a lesser horseshoe bat could only be detected more.
Structure of the cave
The rock of the cave consists of dolomite . The cave has two larger and three smaller day openings. From the leveled forecourt of the solitary caves, two south-facing entrances lead into the cave interior. The western entrance leads to the first hall, which is 15 meters long and four meters high and is laid out at the intersection of a layered joint falling to the east with north-west facing fissures, from which the "window" leads to the south-west. In the north of this hall there is an almost 50-meter-long, partially artificially extended tour that goes back to parallel clefts that strike the NNW. In the northern part of this tour you reach a five meter long room with a width of four and a half meters and a height of four meters. The bottom of the cave consists of sandy sediments and blockwork. The walls are often designed like a backdrop and are often broken through. There are still traces of a former grinding sand extraction.
See also
literature
- Robert Bouchal, Josef Wirt: Hidden Vienna Woods. Forgotten, mysterious, unknown . Styria Pichler Verlag, Vienna 2003, ISBN 3-85431-311-X , pp. 42, 88f.
- 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. 81–84.
- Helga and Wilhelm Hartmann: Die Höhlen Niederösterreichs Volume 2, S. 274-276.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Bouchal, host: Verborgener Wienerwald. Forgotten, mysterious, unknown , p. 88f.
- ↑ Karl H. Hochschorner, Dieter Sulzbacher: Driving through specially protected caves - guidelines for members of the LVHK. (PDF; 107 kB) Retrieved November 25, 2012 .
- ↑ a b Einödhöhle on the side of the Pfaffstätten community