Hohlstein (Kammerbach)

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The hollow stone , also known as Kammerbacher Höhle or Hilgershäuser Höhle , is a karst cave in a limestone portal on the Nixenbach. The natural monument, one of the largest caves in Hesse, is located between the villages of Kammerbach and Hilgershausen in the Werra-Meißner district in ( Hesse ).

The cave entrance from the inside

Origin and structure

The hollow stone was created speleologically through the dissolving effect of carbonated water, which initially penetrated into crevices and joints and washed out the cave system with the cave lake from the Zechstein limestone . The cave is 50 m long, 20 m wide and up to 12 m high.

The cave is integrated into fairy tales and legends several times. In the front part of the cave lake whose water which is forecast to heal, rejuvenate and beautify should. Ceremonies and flower offerings are said to have been customary here until the 19th century. These traditions are said to come from pre-Christian times and some of them were carried out several times a year. Above the portal is the “Mädelsprung”, which protrudes just north of the cave attachment as a second rock face; Legend has it that an unfaithful girl jumped from him into the mermaid pond, where she still lives today as a mermaid and pulls unfaithful girls into the depths. According to another source, the cave is also associated with Frau Holle ("Frau-Holle-Höhle").

history

Archaeological finds from around 200 BC show that it was used as a shelter and dwelling during the Iron Age . Since human bones were also discovered among the finds, the hollow stone could have been an Iron Age sacrifice and burial site. As it was first mentioned in a document in 1267, the hollow stone is considered the oldest described cave in Germany.

Today it is a natural monument; it is home to a bat colony . The cave is closed with an iron gate and is only accessible to the public in the summer half of the year by prior arrangement with the Bad Sooden-Allendorf city marketing department.

literature

  • Eduard Brauns: Hiking and travel guide through North Hesse and Waldeck. A. Bernecker Verlag, Melsungen 1971.
  • Klaus Sippel: The hollow stone near Hilgershausen, city of Bad Sooden-Allendorf. Leaflet to the cave between Hilgershausen and Kammerbach in the Werra-Meißner district. In: Archaeological monuments in Hessen. Issue 138, State Office for Monument Preservation Hesse, Wiesbaden 1997, ISBN 3-89822-138-5 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Jochen Duckeck: Kammerbacher Höhle. From ShowCaves.com. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
  2. ↑ a b Jonathan Vorrath: Hohlstein cave on the Rhenanus Path near Hilgershausen is open again. In: Hessische / Niedersächsische Allgemeine (HNA). Dierichs, Kassel May 16, 2014, online at HNA.de, accessed on January 3, 2017.

Web links

Coordinates: 51 ° 15 ′ 58.7 "  N , 9 ° 53 ′ 43.2"  E