Unicorn cave (Harz)
| Unicorn cave
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 Blue grotto of the unicorn cave |
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| Location: | near Scharzfeld , district of Göttingen , Lower Saxony ( Germany ) | |
| Height : | 370 m above sea level NHN | |
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Geographic location: |
51 ° 38 '6 " N , 10 ° 24' 15.1" E | |
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| Geology: | Zechstein - dolomite | |
| Type: | Karst cave | |
| Discovery: | 1541 first documented mention |
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| Lighting: | mostly LED | |
| Overall length: | 700 m | |
| Length of the show cave area: |
270 m | |
| Particularities: | Play of daylight in the Blue Grotto | |
| Website: | www.einhornhoehle.de | |
The Unicorn Cave is a karst cave in the Zechstein - dolomite . It is located near Scharzfeld in the non-parish Harz region of the Göttingen district in Lower Saxony . The cave is the largest visitor cave in the western part of the Harz Mountains .
It is designated as a natural monument and was included in the list of 77 important national geotopes in 2006 as part of the Zechstein karst landscape on the southern Harz . Since 2017, the Unicorn Cave part of the UNESCO - Geopark and official information center.
Geographical location
The unicorn cave is in the Harz Mountains. It is located near the Scharzfeld district of Herzberg . The covered entrance area of the visitor cave, which also has a natural entrance a little further to the south-west, is about 1.8 km (as the crow flies ) northeast of the Scharzfelder St. Thomas Church on the eastern flank of the wooded Brandköpfe (approx. 391 m above sea level ) about 370 m . Near the cave entrance and a little to the northwest above there is a forest path crossing at 381.2 m .
description
The cave is almost 700 meters long, about 300 meters of which are shown on guided tours. According to more recent investigations by georadar measurements and drilling , the cave is much longer than the previously known parts. In the cave several halls and domes are lined up, which are connected by lower passages. The cavity of the cave is up to 50 meters high, but mostly filled with sediments with a thickness between 15 and 30 meters. They got into the cave naturally during the Ice Ages .
The natural entrance is formed by two collapsed ceilings in the southwest in the area of the Blue Grotto, through which the cave was entered for centuries. 1895 originated in the northwest of the cave, a 12-meter tunnel as a new approach that in the White Hall of Lons - studs flows and since then is the main entrance.
The following larger halls and rooms can be found in the cave:
- the white hall,
- the Schiller Hall,
- the Leibniz Hall,
- the blue grotto.
There are also a number of smaller rooms, cathedrals, grottos and passages, such as the Martha-Grotto, the Struckmann -grotte, the Wolf Chamber, the Bear Walk, the Virchow Gang, the Jacob Friesen Gang and the von Alten Chapel.
The cave has a special climate due to the opening in the ceiling in the Blue Grotto. There is a constant 7 ° Celsius or 4 ° Celsius evaporation cold.
paleontology
The sediment layers inside the cave represent a geological and palaeontological archive. They contain remains of bones from animals that have perished inside since the Ice Age and were dragged into it by predators or humans. So far, over 70 animal species have been scientifically identified based on the numerous bone finds, including 60 mammal species such as cave bears , cave lions and wolves . Because of its low average temperature all year round, the cave has favorable conditions for preserving the bone material. Because of the chemical composition of the soil, which is made up of lime-rich material, there is no demineralization of the bones.
history
The cave was first mentioned in a document in 1541. At first it was also known as the “dwarf hole”, “Quergeloch” or “Scharzfeldische Höhle”. Names factor for the Einhornhöhle the finds of bones and teeth, which were the legendary mythical creature of the unicorn were assigned. In 1583, a chronicler reported that there were excavations in the cave for the bones of unicorns, which were then considered a remedy and fetched an enormously high price. The bone material was probably the remains of large mammals.
In 1686 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz visited the cave and wrote a report in which he also reported on the trade in unicorn artifacts. Otto von Guericke , the then mayor of Magdeburg, reported in his New Magdeburg Experiments in 1672 of a fossil find in Zeunickenberg near Quedlinburg, which he interpreted as the skeleton of a unicorn: “It happened in this year 1663 too (...) that one found the skeleton of a unicorn. ”Leibniz later also looked at the find and designed a fantasy reconstruction of the alleged unicorn in his work Protagaea . The representation is used today as an advertising symbol for the show cave.
In 1872, Rudolf Virchow carried out a systematic investigation of the cave and discovered that the bones were fossil remains from large mammals . In 1925 and 1926 the prehistorian Karl Hermann Jacob-Friesen undertook excavations in the cave in order to come across finds from the Paleolithic and to uncover the former entrance.
Further excavations in the post-war period took place in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1956 and 1958 they were carried out by Göttingen students on behalf of the Hanover State Museum in the Virchow corridor of the cave. A large number of mammalian skeletal parts have been recovered, the most common of which is that of bears. Further excavations were carried out in 1968 by Klaus Duphorn.
Recent research
The palaeontologist Ralf Nielbock from the TU Clausthal has been researching in the unicorn cave since 1984 , in 1986/87 with Stefan Veil from the Landesmuseum Hannover . During excavation campaigns that lasted until around 1989, numerous tools from the time of the Neanderthal man were found in the cave. A species-rich, Ice Age small mammal fauna was also found in almost all areas of the cave sediments. In addition, there was evidence of a large cave portal at that time, which is now filled to the top.
Since around 2010, research into the cave has intensified again after geoscientific, archaeological and palaeontological excavations were inactive for over 25 years. To carry out further investigations, a network was formed, to which the society Unicornu fossile as operator association of the cave, the State Office for Mining, Energy and Geology and the Leibniz Institute for Applied Geophysics (LIAG) from Hanover, the universities of Berlin and Göttingen , the palaeon and belong to the Lower Saxony State Office for Monument Preservation . The main focus of the more recent investigations is, among other things, on the former access portal from the time of the Neanderthals.
Since 2009, the universities in Berlin and Hanover, the LIAG and the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources have carried out extensive geophysical measurements. The aim is to record known cavities, search for possible continuations and estimate the sediment filling of the unicorn cave.
On May 27, 2014, researchers from the institutions involved discovered a new, previously unknown cavity south of the Blue Grotto while drilling. A camera lowered to a depth of 11 meters showed that the corridor was probably closed for decades and that its span is estimated to be at least 20 meters. The new part probably had a further cave entrance, as the latest geophysical measurements indicate. The total length should be around 150 meters. So far, no accessible connection to the unicorn cave has been found.
In the summer of 2017, another 40 meter deep hole was drilled, during which a previously unknown cave space was discovered. This suggests that the unicorn cave has a total length of one kilometer.
In 2018, the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture approved 230,000 euros for interdisciplinary research within the cave. They are supported by the Lower Saxony State Office for Monument Preservation, the company Unicornu fossile e. V. , the University of Göttingen, the Free University of Berlin and the State Natural History Museum Braunschweig . The funds are intended for new excavations in the Jacob-Friesengang and in the area of the buried old cave access. They are intended to unlock the sequence of layers from the last glacial period, the Weichselian glacial period , from 117,000 to 11,700 years ago. The research results are made available to visitors on site and on the Internet in real time. In 2019, the research approved in the previous year began through excavations in which students from the University of Göttingen, the TU Clausthal , the TU Braunschweig , the Eberhard Karls University Tübingen and the Ruhr University Bochum are involved. Investigations will be carried out on deposits in the cave and on a buried entrance, which will continue in 2020. Early finds included a large cave bear bone and its lower jaw with teeth.
Meetings and awards
In 2016, the operator association of the cave, the Lower Saxony State Office for the Preservation of Monuments and the Harz - Braunschweiger Land - Ostfalen Geopark held a colloquium on the Harz caves and the further scientific development of the Einhornhöhle. According to the organizers, the colloquium showed the great value of the cave for Stone Age and Ice Age research in a pan-European context.
In 2017, the Einhornhöhle was the first facility in the Göttingen district to be recognized as the information center of the UNESCO Geopark Harz - Braunschweiger Land - Ostfalen . The award took place on May 9, 2017 in front of the cave when the Göttingen District Administrator Bernhard Reuter presented the plaque for the information center to the company Unicornu fossile eV as the operator of the geotourist facility.
legend
According to a legend , the discovery of the cave is related to the nearby stone church Scharzfeld . An old and wise woman lived in the cave-like stone church in pagan times and helped those seeking advice. One day they were driven out by a monk in a black robe accompanied by Frankish warriors. A unicorn is said to have protected them from their pursuers. The woman joined the witch community on the Hexentanzplatz des Brocken . Then the black monk disappeared into a hole in the ground, which led to the discovery of the unicorn cave. Actually, however, the cave was never discovered, as it has been known since the Stone Age and has never been forgotten.
tourism
Cave tourism began in modern times , in which dukes and kings also took part. Many cave tourists, including celebrities at the time, left their name inscriptions on the cave walls, which are still there today. In 1895 an approximately 12-meter-long tunnel was excavated , which enabled access to the White Hall from the outside. Presumably what is now known as the Löns Stollen corridor was laid out by a brewery owner who leased the cave from the community and used it as a beer cellar from 1895 to 1903. A hotelier from Scharzfeld then leased the cave and organized tours of the cave for his guests. In 1908, the Harz Club branch association Scharzfeld leased the cave and presented it to the public through cave guides. In 1948, the association built a small hut in front of the cave entrance as a lounge and sales room as well as a forest restaurant. In 2001, the Harz Club stopped running the cave.
In 2002 the society Unicornu fossile eV was founded as a new cave association , which resumed guided tours in 2003. In addition, the cave is used for events, including since 2012 for sound evenings in the summer months. The non-profit cave association operates the cave without public support.
In 2004 the "Haus Einhorn" was built at the visitor entrance. It is a gastronomically managed hut, in which there is a cave museum and one of the three information centers of the Geopark Harz - Braunschweiger Land - Ostfalen . The hut is included as no. 101 in the system of stamping points of the Harz hiking pin. It is located on the Karst hiking trail .
A wooden unicorn sculpture based on Leibniz's drawing was set up at the visitor entrance in 2008. After it collapsed in 2015 due to rotten wood, the operator's association of the cave renewed the sculpture in the “Leibniz Year 2016”.
In the cave there were many film recordings, including for documentary series such as Andreas Kieling - Mitten im wild Germany . It also served as a backdrop for film adaptations, such as for the Tom Sawyer film from 2011 , the NDR children's film The Secret of the Dwarfs from 2009 and the Hauff fairy tale The Cold Heart from 1978. In 2017, parts of the Dark series were broadcast on Netflix was shot in the area of the unicorn cave.
Today (2016) the cave has about 25,000 visitors a year.
See also
Documentary film
- Close to nature: the unicorn cave . 30-minute nature documentary by NDR , first broadcast on March 20, 2012.
literature
- Ernst Andreas Friedrich : Natural monuments of Lower Saxony . Hanover, 1980. ISBN 3-7842-0227-6
- Ralf Nielbock: The search for the diluvial person - or: The history of exploration of the unicorn cave. In: The customer N. F. 53; 2002 ( online )
- Ralf Nielbock, Stephan Veil: The unicorn cave - pet cemetery of the Ice Age and traces from the time of the Neanderthals In: Mamoun Fansa , Frank Both, Henning Haßmann (ed.): Archeology | Land | Lower Saxony. 400,000 years of history. State Museum for Nature and Man, Oldenburg 2004. Pages 171–175.
- Ralf Nielbock, Heinz-Gerd Röhling : Geotop-Ensemble Zechsteinkarstlandschaft Südharz: Einhornhöhle and Rhumequelle - geotopes of national importance in: SDGG issue 42, Hanover, 2006 ISBN 978-3-932537-38-7
- Ralf Nielbock: The unicorn cave. The world of unicorns, cave bears and Neanderthals . Munich 2010. ISBN 978-3-89937-123-9
- Merchant; Nielbock; Romanov: Geophysical investigations at the Einhornhöhle, Südharz in: Mitt.Verb.dt. Cave u. Karst explorer 56 (3). Munich 2010 ISSN 0505-2211
- Felix Hillgruber, Jens Lehmann, Ralf Nielbock, Thomas Terberger : The unicorn cave in the light of old and new research . In: Reports on the preservation of monuments in Lower Saxony . No. 4 , 2014, p. 153-155 .
- Felix Hillgruber, Ralf Nielbock: The unicorn cave in: Program for the 56th meeting of the Hugo Obermaier Society in Braunschweig and Schöningen from 22. – 26. April 2014 , p. 81 (pdf) ( online )
Web links
- Site of the unicorn cave
- Ralf Nielbock: Einhornhöhle near Scharzfeld / Harz , description by the State Office for Mining, Energy and Geology in Lower Saxony, (PDF; 232 kB), on lbeg.de
- Annette List: The Chronicle of the Unicorn Cave
- Einhornhöhle , on karstwanderweg.de
- The unicorn cave - a Quaternary scientific gem in the southern Harz , on karstwanderweg.de
- The unicorn cave - research status and perspectives , on karstwanderweg.de
- For the geology of the Einhornhöhle near Scharzfeld on the southwestern edge of the Harz , on karstwanderweg.de
- Climate extremes in winter and summer in the Einhornhöhle near Scharzfeld in the Harz Mountains , on karstwanderweg.de
- The state of Lower Saxony funds research on the unicorn cave at the Lower Saxony State Office for Monument Preservation
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ralf Nielbock, Heinz-Gerd Röhling, Firouz Vladi : Paths into the underground - the Zechstein karst landscape on the southern Harz. In: Ernst-Rüdiger Look, Ludger Feldmann (Ed.): Fascination Geology. The important geotopes of Germany , E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-510-65219-3 , p. 14 ff.
- ↑ Einhornhöhle is now part of the UNESCO Geopark on ndr.de from May 8, 2017
- ↑ Vassili Golod: The unicorn cave - the coolest place in Lower Saxony ( memento from July 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) at ndr.de from July 4, 2015
- ↑ quoted in: Dr. Harald Gebhard and Dr. Mario Ludwig Von dragons, yetis and vampires - on the trail of mythical animals , BLV Buchverlag, Munich, 2005, p. 19
- ↑ Die Einhornhöhle (official homepage), on einhornhoehle.de
- ↑ Dieter Meischner: Report on excavations in the Einhornhöhle near Scharzfeld in the Harz at karstwanderweg.de from 2001
- ↑ Unicorn Cave: Where is the Neanderthal Man? (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on August 16, 2014 ; Retrieved April 19, 2016 . , from August 15, 2014, from ndr.de
- ^ Kaufmann, G .; Romanov, D .; Nielbock, R .: Cave detection using multi-geophysical methods: The Unicorn Cave, Harz Mountains, Germany . In: Geophysics . tape 76 , no. 3 , 2011, p. B71-B77 .
- ^ Kaufmann, G .; Romanov, D .; Jahn, G .; Galindo Guerreros, J .; Nielbock, R .: Geophysical explorations of cave sites: The case of the Unicorn Cave, Scharzfeld / Harz, Germany . In: Braunschweiger Naturkundliche Schriften . tape 11 , 2012, p. 69-80 .
- ^ Kaufmann, G .; Nielbock, R .; Romanov, D .: The Unicorn Cave, Southern Harz Mountains, Germany: From known passages to unknowns extensions with the help of geophysical surveys . In: J. Appl. Geophys. tape 123 , 2015, p. 123-140 .
- ↑ Röhling, HG and Nielbock, R. and Kaufmann, G. and Tanner, DC and Igel, J. and Polom, U. and Zellmer, H. and Vogel, D .: An integrated geophysical and geological interpretation of the area around the Unicorn Cave (Southern Harz Mountains, Germany) . In: Journal of the German Society for Geosciences - German Journal of Geology . 2019.
- ↑ Researchers come across new rooms in the unicorn cave ( memento from October 19, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) in the North German News from May 28, 2014 with a photo of the cavity
- ↑ In the Den of Bears and Wolves at ndr.de from May 28, 2014
- ↑ Ancient unicorn cave reveals new secrets at ndr.de from July 12, 2017
- ↑ Ministry gives 230,000 euros for unicorn cave at ndr.de from August 10, 2018
- ↑ How the Neanderthals lived in the Harz at regional-braunschweig.de from August 10, 2018
- ↑ Excavations in unicorn cave: Did Neanderthals flee from the cold? in HNA from July 16, 2019
- ^ New excavations at the Einhornhöhle Press release from the Lower Saxony State Office for Monument Preservation from July 12, 2019
- ↑ Einhornhöhle: Researchers on the trail of the Neanderthals at ndr.de from July 17, 2019
- ↑ Martin Baumgartner: Animal bones found during excavations at the unicorn cave in Harzkurier from August 1, 2019
- ↑ Invitation to the colloquium on the Harz Caves and their cultural heritage on October 14, 2016 in Scharzfeld
- ↑ Awareness of the research potential of the unicorn cave in: Harzkurier from October 16, 2016
- ↑ Einhornhöhle now advertises with the UNESCO logo in: Harz Kurier from May 9, 2017
- ^ The experiment in silence in: Harzkurier from August 19, 2013
- ↑ "House Unicorn"
- ↑ Einhornhöhle is stamp point 101
- ↑ Harzer Wanderadel: stamp point 101 / Einhornhöhle , on harzer-wandernadel.de
- ↑ The unicorn sculpture collapsed , Harz Kurier , from July 2, 2015, on harzkurier.de
- ↑ Film shoot for: Andreas Kieling - Mitten im wild Germany ( Memento from October 17, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Tom Sawyer. Einhornhöhle was closed for filming for four days ( Memento from August 8, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Film shoot for: "The Secret of the Dwarfs" ( Memento from October 20, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ "Dark" was also shot in the Einhornhöhle, Harzkurier from December 20, 2017
- ↑ Current program tip: NaturNah: Die Einhornhöhle " at ndr.de from March 14, 2012
- ^ The unicorn cave in the light of old and new research , in Reports on the Preservation of Monuments in Lower Saxony, 2014/4 , on niemeyer-buch.de