Hunger Well (Heldenfingen)
| Famine well | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Hunger Well (April 2008) |
||||
| location | ||||
| Country or region | Heidenheim district ( Baden-Württemberg ) | |||
| Coordinates | 48 ° 35 '21 " N , 10 ° 3' 41" E | |||
| height | 523 m above sea level NHN | |||
|
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| geology | ||||
| Mountains | Swabian Alb | |||
| Source type | Karst spring | |||
| Hydrology | ||||
| River system | Danube | |||
| Receiving waters | Hungerbrunnenbach → Lone → Hürbe → Brenz → Danube → Black Sea | |||
Coordinates: 48 ° 35 ′ 21 ″ N , 10 ° 3 ′ 41 ″ E
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The hunger well near Heldenfingen is a periodic karst spring on the Swabian East Alb , southeast of Gerstetten on the border between the Heidenheim district and the Alb-Danube district . The course of the mostly dry Hungerbrunnenbach begins here .
Surname
Because of its irregular bulk was formerly believed that the fountain as a portent crop failure, famine, inflation or threat of war would announce. In addition to this, there are numerous other famine wells on the Alb, of which the same is said.
Because of its rare (at least earlier) springing up, this karst spring is often mentioned in images and text in karst literature and the Swabian Alb literature.
geography
The hunger well is at about 523 m above sea level. NHN on the flat valley floor of a wide dry valley on the Heuchlinger mark, 400 m northwest of the point where the Altheim – Heuchlingen road crosses the dry valley. At the source location between the towns of Altheim , Heuchlingen and Heldenfingen there is an episodic karst spring which only pours after particularly large amounts of rainfall. The water that emerges from it is called Hungerbrunnenbach and flows approximately southeast.
The Hungerbrunnenbach then flows in a south-easterly direction towards the lower Lone through the Hungerbrunnenental, which is named after it and from here on it is about 8.5 km long, 50–90 m wide and shallow. Dry valley branches, some of considerable length, already run above it from north to northwest to west, where the suburbs Zähringen, Sontbergen, Neuburghof and their common capital Gerstetten are located, and unite approx. 4.5–2.5 km above the Quelle, still in the valley section called Gassental or even before. The "Hungerbrunnental" itself flows into the lower Lone Valley, which is also mostly dry for long stretches, opposite Setzingen .
Hydrogeology
The karst spring rises from the lying bank limestone formation , directly on the cliff line , a step in the terrain clearly recognizable in many places in the Alb landscape, which separates the two cultural areas Kuppenalb and surface alb (last surf step (5–50 m high) of the Miocene Molasse Sea , OMM ).
The dry valley is completely flat, the valley flanks are gentle and low. From these relief properties it can be concluded that vegetation cover, soil and fluvial loose rock are not deep down to the solid limestone below: According to Binder 1997, the karst water level was found at the groundwater measuring point 80 m southeast of the hunger well 18 m below the ground in 1977–1990 32 m deep.
If the spring is dry, it would easily be overlooked if one looks at the valley meadow from the road and does not see the approx. 5 m long gravel bed from close up and the subsequent drainage channel in the grass floor that leads across the middle of the valley.
When the hunger well pours (Qmax 1939: 700, 1957: 40 l / s), however, its water usually seeps away again after less than two kilometers. The water only reaches the confluence with the Lone Valley if it continues to fill up. There are only three small, insignificant, also dry side valleys. Nowadays, at best, water flows from the sewage treatment plants in the towns to the north.
In the description of the Heidenheim District Office from 1844, it says about the hunger well: “As a rule, it flows on a very wet summer and autumn and lasts 1–2 years. In the before. In the 20th century it is said to have flowed 7 years in a row. "
Hans Binder researched that the fountain started thirty times in the 20th century. What is striking is “the increase in consecutive years over the past 30 years. The years in which the Hungerbrunnenbach flowed through to the Lone have also become more frequent. "
Geohydrological explanations for a rising karst water level have not yet been proven - neither have significant changes in the annual precipitation statistics. All that is known is an increase in karstification ( Lone seepage ) of the Lone and thus of the entire Lone area to which the Hungerbrunnental belongs. On its approx. 25 km long west-east section between Breitingen and the hamlet of Lontal, shortly before the confluence with the Hürbe , the Lone is falling completely dry more and more often and for a longer period of time, as its water flows into (eight!) Strong springs and the gives off a mighty aquifer in the Donauried von Langenau .
Traditional
Binder 1984, 1997 and Oberamt 1844 report on territorial rulership and the development of customs on the area around the Hungerwell between 1500 and 1800. The Altheim district , which belongs to the imperial city of Ulm, and the Heldenfingen and Heuchlingen districts , which belong to the Duchy of Württemberg, meet directly at the Hungerbrunnen . "A small, approximately 40 ′ long and 30 ′ wide square, which in older times was marked with landmarks and was considered a sanctuary, remained neutral." Documents of the Ulm Council since 1533 prove that the communities mentioned "alternate on Easter Monday and on the first and second Sunday after Easter a fun day with a small market and dances [celebrated] for which the minstrels were paid from the community coffers. Bloody quarrels and immorality of all kinds always took place at this folk festival, but no police believed they were authorized (...) to intervene. ”“ And around 1730, Württemberg and Ulm finally united to jointly abolish this popular entertainment. But the old custom has not completely disappeared; Even now, on Palm Sunday, young people come from here, but even more from Heldenfingen, to the square […] ”.
Binder reports on several occasions that the Heldenfinger pretzel market gradually developed from this, where singing, music and folk dance groups also performed. He proves this with texts and photos (from 1900, 1954, 1957 and 1992); Likewise, after the Second World War, Heldenfingen officially converted the traditional customs into a grocer's market. "Over the years this has turned into a major event that has already attracted 30,000 visitors." The market takes place annually on Palm Sunday .
Protection status
The Hungerbrunnen spring is a protected extensive natural monument (Hungerbrunnenquelle FND 81350150040 from 2005); the landscape around the Hungerbrunnen valley and the branches of the dry valley leading to the west is extensively designated as a landscape protection area (Hungerbrunnental LSG 1.35.003 and 4.25.101 from 1972ff). In addition, the Hunger Well has been recognized as an important geotope and geopoint of the UNESCO Geopark Swabian Alb since 2019 .
See also
literature
- Binder 1960: Customs and traditions around the hunger well, Hans Binder, in: Yearbook for Karst and Cave Studies, 1960.
- Binder 1984: The Hunger Well, an intermittent karst spring on the Swabian East Alb. Popular traditions and karst hydrological considerations; in: Karst and Höhle 1993, pp. 25-43.
- Binder 1997: Karst landscapes in southern Germany, excursion ... Contributions to cave and karst studies in southwest Germany, 39, July 1997.
- Binder 2003: Swabian Alb cave guide, Hans Binder, Herbert Jantschke; 7th, completely revised edition 2003; Leinfelden / Echterdingen.
- Yearbooks for Karst and Speleology 1, Stuttgart 1960.
- Karst and cave 1993, Hans Binder, Karstlandschaft Schwäbische Ostalb, Munich 1993.
- BOA 1824: Description of the Oberamt Reutlingen , Tübingen 1824.
- BOA 1844: Description of the Oberamt Heidenheim, Tübingen 1844.
Remarks
- ↑ Only 2.1 km away (as the crow flies) is the Heldenfinger Kliff natural monument , an exposed piece of rock, in which you can see a surf cave with numerous drill shell holes of a shallow Miocene sea (Upper Molasse Sea).
- ↑ With the exception of the first 4 km, from the cliff line at Halzhausen / Lonsee, today's Lone had to recreate the river bed and valley in the dry sediments of the Upper Molasse Sea.