Hessenhaudoline
| Hessenhaudoline
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| Location: | Swabian Alb | |
| Height : | 678 m above sea level NN | |
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Geographic location: |
48 ° 26 '28 " N , 9 ° 45' 51" E | |
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| Cadastral number: | 7524/117 | |
| Type: | Air-filled cave / water cave | |
| Discovery: | 2006 | |
| Overall length: | 8365 m | |
| Level difference: | 148 m | |
| Particularities: | Probably part of the blue cave system | |
| Website: | Arge Blaukarst | |
The Hessenhaudoline is a sinkhole north of Blaubeuren on the district of Berghülen on the Swabian Alb . At its bottom, the artificially created entrance shaft to the Hessenhau cave opens, the second deepest cave in the Swabian Alb with a vertical extension of 148 m.
During a site inspection in spring 2005, a strong draft was found in it, which indicated a connection with larger cavities. Due to this fact and the location in the extension of the “Speleonautenweg” in the Blautopfhöhle , the probability of dry access to the rear parts of the blue cave system was assessed by experts as relatively high.
Even if a connection between the Hessenhau cave and the blue cave system could not yet be established by the cave researchers active in both systems, a hydraulic connection between the two caves could be secured by marking attempts in May 2012. It is also speculated that the cave could extend to the north as far as Laichingen, seven kilometers away.
The wind speed in the sinkhole is recorded by a data logger . The maximum speed recorded so far was 20 km / h. Another characteristic of the Hessenhaudoline is that the strong air movement that can be detected in it is caused by both temperature differences and fluctuations in air pressure. The Hessenhauhöhle is Germany's only cave for which the phenomenon of barometric (i.e. caused by air pressure fluctuations) ventilation is described in the literature.
After the necessary permits, researchers from several cave associations that have joined forces in the Blaukarst Working Group ( Arge Blaukarst ) began excavating in January 2006 . For several years this took place almost every weekend. Since digging had to be carried out in the fall, a shoring technique with guard rails was used. The excavation was lifted out of the shaft with electric winches.
Research process
According to reports from the Blaukarst consortium , a small cave hall was discovered at a depth of 30 m at the end of 2006 - the so-called "i-Punkt-Halle".
In September 2008 an excavation depth of 50 m was reached.
At the end of March 2010, at a depth of 55 m, the breakthrough into further natural cavities was achieved: The so-called “Sinter cart shaft” could be navigated to a depth of 85 m on Easter weekend 2010. A narrow point at the lower end of the shaft prevented further penetration into the depths for a few weeks. On July 3, 2010, the cave explorers were able to penetrate the so-called “semi-final shaft” to a depth of 124 m.
On March 12, 2011, researchers from the Blaukarst consortium reached a canyon passage, which branches off a few meters below the semi-final shaft from the so-called rain shaft and could be navigated to a depth of 127 m. Thus the Hessenhau cave became the deepest cave in the Swabian Alb even before the 126 m deep Laier cave near Geislingen.
After widening an initially impassable bottleneck, at the end of March 2011 the researchers reached a water-bearing 10 m wide and 15 m high cave tunnel, the so-called "Nordblau", after a partially narrow, 250 m long passage. In the south the corridor ends at a siphon , in the north the north blue could be followed for 300 m.
In April 2011, a new measurement was carried out to measure the currently deepest point of the cave at the bottom of the "Suppinger Siphon" at 140 m below the shaft entrance.
During further excursions in April and May 2011, further areas of the cave were walked on and measured. Here a 70 m high chimney system was discovered, which was called "Dead Mountains". The “Suppinger Siphon” could also be immersed and other cave parts measured. On May 9, 2011, the measured length of the cave exceeded one kilometer, and on May 17, 2011, the Hessenhau cave was measured to a new total length of 1363 m.
On June 4, 2011, the 30 meter long “Spaghetti Siphon”, the previous end point of the cave in a north-westerly direction, managed to dive through. Behind it, a continuation above water was discovered and the cave was measured over a length of 1435 m. A feeder leading in a northerly direction was also measured in front of the siphon. The inspection was canceled on the open road, a further continuation is expected here too. Also in June a passage was discovered through which the siphon at the end of the Blaubachklamm can be bypassed. When the measurements were carried out, the length increased again to 1510 m.
In mid-July 2011, the so-called "Marlgrubenklamm" was researched further, the total length of the cave increased to 1641 m due to the measurements.
In August 2011, new areas could be discovered and old areas could be further researched and measured during further drives . As part of this research, the "Knöpfchensintergang" was discovered and the total length could be measured at 1824 m.
As early as September 2011, the measured total length of the cave exceeded the 2 km mark at 2042 m. On September 11th the "column siphon" could be submerged, and the continuation could be discovered behind the siphon.
In April 2012, further parts of the cave were explored as part of a bivouac tour over the Easter holidays. When measuring the cart siphon, the currently deepest point of the cave at 144 meters was discovered. Further cave parts behind this siphon and corridors on the opposite side upstream were measured, so that the total length was increased to 3,028 m. In the same month, two dyeing tests with uranine were able to prove that the Hessenhau cave is hydraulically connected downstream with the blue cave system and upstream with the Laichingen sewage treatment plant.
In May 2012, the third siphon downstream (33 m long, known as the “underground car park”) could be penetrated and measured, increasing the total length to 3182 m.
In the further course of the research downstream, a crossing of the 4th siphon was discovered, called the “dream tunnel” by the researchers. A new bivouac was set up there in September 2012 and exploration of siphon 5 began. This siphon was leashed approx. 20 m to a depth of 7 m. On the way back, the 40 m long 4th siphon was measured, which increased the total length of the Hessenhau cave to 3872 m.
At the beginning of 2013, the basis for improved research conditions was created by purchasing a new rebreather. In April, the continuation of siphon 5 in the direction of the blue cave could be found.
Siphon 5 was already measured in May and a wide river tunnel was discovered behind it, which leads towards the Blue Cave. During the survey, a distance of 42 m was recorded, the total length increased to 3945 m and the depth to 148 m.
During a bivouac tour on June 17th, the above-water parts found behind siphon 5 were measured and the total length of the Hessenhau cave increased to 4006 meters. This is now in front of the Falkensteiner Höhle in 4th place of the longest caves in the Swabian Alb. Also as part of this tour 6 lines were laid in the siphon for the further advance.
In 2014, further expeditions allowed new cave areas to be explored. In March by a diving expedition 70 meters (53 of which were measured), in June the total length of the cave reached 4450 meters due to newly measured corridors. Since then, the Hessenhau cave has been the third longest cave in the Swabian Alb after the fox labyrinth and the Wulfbachquell cave. Also in September new territory could be discovered during a bivouac tour.
In April 2015, a total of more than 200 meters of virgin land was measured at the northern and southern end points, making the total length 4683 meters. In July, the cave was upgraded to the giant cave class, after the total length could be increased to 5033 meters during measurements. Large areas could already be measured again in September, so that the total length increased to 5460 meters.
In the spring and summer of 2016, further measurements were carried out in which 200 m of virgin land were measured again. This passage section "Laichinger Diretissima" is a passage section leading to the north that does not contain a larger stream. In the rearmost part of this corridor, which according to the expedition participants is the most beautiful corridor area so far, beautiful crystals were found. The course of the river was also further explored: here the large 5th north siphon was submerged over a length of approx. 70 meters. The new length was 5810 meters.
Web links
supporting documents
- ^ Longest and deepest caves in Germany - Arge Grabenstetten. Thilo Müller and Andreas Wolf, ARGE Höhle & Karst Grabenstetten eV, January 2020, accessed on January 27, 2020 .
- ↑ Deeper and deeper into the cave ( memento from July 15, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) by Joachim Striebel in the Südwest-Presse from July 12, 2010
- ↑ Official press release of Arge Blaukarst: "The Hessenhau cave is the deepest cave in the Swabian Alb" (accessed on March 17, 2011)
- ^ "Breakthrough to the Blue Cave" by Thomas Spanhel & Joachim Striebel in the Südwest-Presse from March 31, 2011 ( Memento from May 1, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ "Chimney explored up to a height of 70 meters, measured passage behind Suppinger siphon" (accessed on May 19, 2011)
- ↑ List of the deepest caves in Germany north of the Alps (accessed on July 14, 2011)
- ↑ a b c d e Homepage of Arge Blaukarst: Current issues (accessed on February 21, 2018)
- ^ Newspaper article by Joachim Striebel in the Südwest-Presse on May 18, 2012 (accessed on April 15, 2018)