Fingals cave near Obernzenn

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Quarry walls of the Fingals Cave, 2014
Quarry wall of the Fingals Cave, 2014

The so-called Fingals Cave in Illesheim (Middle Franconia, Bavaria) is an abandoned sandstone quarry. It is located in a wooded area near the road connecting Obernzenn and Sontheim .

history

The red sandstone of the quarry was used for numerous structures up to the Aisch valley. Among other things, the town fortifications of Bad Windsheim were built from this stone.

After no more sandstone was mined at this point, the site was used as a hiding place for the population or as a field camp for the military during the Thirty Years' War and the Napoleonic campaigns . In addition, the wildly romantic place developed into a popular excursion destination for society in the 18th and 19th centuries, especially the residents of the Obernzenn castles and their guests. Numerous inscriptions carved into the stone walls, which are up to five meters high, are reminiscent of former visitors and events.

In addition to the German-language inscriptions, some in French have also been preserved. One of them relates to the American War of Independence in the years 1776 to 1783. The memorial inscription for Captain von Erckert, who fell in America in 1777, probably comes from Adam Erckert. Captain von Erckert led a company of the subsidiary troops of Margrave Alexander von Ansbach . The inscription by a French gunner from 1806, on the other hand, was made when Obernzenn was the Imperial French headquarters for several months.

Names carved into the sandstone such as Seckendorff , Rotenhan , Guttenberg or Truchseß are reminiscent of the societies of the 18th and 19th centuries .

  • Memorial inscription for Captain von Erckert, who fell in 1777

  • Inscription by a French gunner from 1806

  • Inscription from 1799

  • Inscription from 1802

The Fingals Cave is entered in the Illesheimer List of Historic Buildings and has been designated as a particularly valuable geotope by the Bavarian State Office for the Environment (Geotope number: 575G001).

Surname

The designation as a cave is misleading. There was, however, a rock cellar that has since collapsed and buried, which probably contributed to the naming. In the Scottish Ossian poem from 1762, Fingal is Ossian's father. This seal was at times very popular in Europe and apparently led to the naming of the Fingals Cave.

Web links

Commons : Fingalshöhle near Obernzenn  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http: //erüca.de/9.html
  2. ↑ http://www.zenntal.de/index.php?id=812
  3. ↑ http://www.gps-tour.info/de/touren/detail.23828.html
  4. ↑ Bavarian State Office for the Environment, Geotope Former Quarry "Fingalshöhle" WNW von Obernzenn (accessed on March 22, 2020).
  5. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from August 14, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / archiv.fraenkischer-albverein.de
  6. ↑ Werner Dettelbacher, Stefan Fröhling, Andreas Reuß, Franken , DuMont Reiseverlag Ostfildern, 5th edition, February 2010, ISBN 978-3-7701-4186-9 , p. 290

Coordinates: 49 ° 27 ′ 14.6 "  N , 10 ° 26 ′ 36.3"  E