Iberg stalactite cave
| Iberg stalactite cave
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 The Museum am Berg building with access to the Iberg stalactite cave |
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| Location: | in the Harz near Bad Grund ; District of Göttingen , Lower Saxony ( Germany ) | |
| Height : | 420 m above sea level NHN | |
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Geographic location: |
51 ° 49 '3 " N , 10 ° 15' 10" E | |
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| Type: | Stalactite cave | |
| Discovery: | 1723 | |
| Show cave since: | 1874 | |
| Lighting: | electric (since 1912) | |
| Overall length: | 220 m | |
| Length of the show cave area: |
351 m | |
| Average annual number of visitors: | 67,392 (2010-2014) | |
| Current visitors: | 66,586 (2014) | |
| Particularities: |
HöhlenErlebnisZentrum Iberg stalactite cave |
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| Website: | hoehlen-erlebnis-zentrum.de | |
The Iberg stalactite cave ( today HöhlenErlebnisZentrum Iberger stalactite cave ) near Bad Grund in the southern Lower Saxony district of Göttingen is a stalactite cave in the Harz Mountains . It lies in the limestone of an Upper Devonian atoll reef of the Iberg .
The accessible part of the cave is 123 meters long. With the 78-meter-long Hauptmann-Spatzier tunnel , the Gelber Stieg pit and the Oskar Klingebiel grotto , the cave has a total length of 300 meters. The Iberg stalactite cave and the other caves known in the Iberg are corrosion caves, mostly the rare type of weathering cave. So far, about 100 caves are known in the Iberg, of which the Iberg stalactite cave is one of the largest.
Between 2006 and 2008 the show cave was expanded to become the Iberg stalactite cave cave experience center with the three main contents: Fascination Cave , A Reef On Travel and The “Oldest” Family in the World .
Geographical location
The stalactite cave is located within the Upper Harz in the western part of the Harz Nature Park . It extends at 562.6 m above sea level. NHN high Iberg , with its entrance in the context of the Museum am Berg building about 1.4 km northeast of the center of the mountain town of Bad Grund on the south- eastern flank of the Iberg at an altitude of about 420 m . A few meters south of the Harzhochstrasse ( Bundesstrasse 242 ) leads past the cave entrance (with parking lot).
history
The cave was probably discovered around 1500 by miners looking for stored brown iron ore which, according to archaeological findings, had been mined on and in the Iberg since around 600 BC. The first description from 1737 describes a visit to a cave by the Wolfenbüttler doctor and naturalist Franz Ernst Brückmann on March 30, 1723. In 1874, paths and stairs were laid out and the show cave was initially able to start operating via an entrance. A later tunnel, the Hauptmann-Spatzier-tunnel, excavated in 1910 and 1911, became the new entrance. In addition to the main cave, this tunnel cut two other natural cavities, a brown iron ore deposit in the former Gelber Stieg iron ore mine , which was probably cleared in the 16th century, and the so-called Oskar Klingebiel grotto with very pronounced ceilings .
The electric lighting was installed in 1912, expanded in 1935 and in the 1950s, and renewed in December 1972. On February 13, 2013 the lighting system was replaced by light emitting diodes . The costs borne by the district of Osterode am Harz amounted to around 100,000 euros. All parts of the old lighting system such as cables, switch boxes and hooks have been removed.
geology
The limestone massif of the Iberg rises above Bad Grund over an area of around 1.5 square kilometers. Its limestones appear as steep cliffs in some places. It is originally a coral reef that formed around 385 million years ago at the point in a warm sea where Madagascar is today . It moved to its present location within several hundred million years as a result of continental drift .
The Iberg and the Iberg stalactite cave represent a geological rarity with a history of cave formation that is probably unique in Europe. The former reef atoll began to form around 385 million years ago, probably on the top of a submarine seamount or volcano. Some of the former reef inhabitants are preserved as fossils on cave walls. Around 370 million years ago, reefs around the world stopped growing. Suspected sea level fluctuations that changed the ecosystem so serious that there was a mass extinction.
In the following millions of years, mighty layers of erosion sediments covered the former reef: Today they can be found around the Iberg in the form of greywacke and clay slate . About 300 million years ago, the Iberg resisted a first, the Variscan orogeny, but was squeezed out of its surroundings and torn into itself. The Harz Mountains began to rise for the second time 100 million years ago. Hot metal-containing water rose from the cracks in the lime block. Not only did many types of mineral form, the metal-containing waters also penetrated the lime and in places converted it into the iron carbonate siderite . Finally, a cave formation process that is unique in this way in Europe took place. The trigger was the particularly strong uplifting of the resin, especially in the last 6 million years. The limestone and siderite rock of the Iberg got into the area of seepage and groundwater, and the oxygen dissolved in it oxidized the divalent iron of siderite, which weathered to brown iron ore (brown iron stone, limonite ). The carbon dioxide released as a result was converted into carbonic acid in the groundwater, which dissolved the adjacent limestone (corrosion). The caves in the Iberg formed unusually quickly around the ore deposits. The Iberg stalactite cave is a corrosion cave, namely the rare type of weathering cave, as the carbonic acid comes mainly from the weathering of the siderite and less from surface water.
For centuries, brown iron stone was used in mining in the Iberg. The frequent red color of the sinter in the cave is due to the iron . In some places there is also sinter that has been discolored blue-green by copper minerals. With the rise of the Harz Mountains, the water-filled caves of the Iberg fell dry and stalactites could form. During the last three warm periods, mighty stalactites such as the so-called dwarf king Hübich and high wall sinters such as the so-called petrified waterfall as well as the dwarf organ and many younger stalactites were created. In historical times as well as in the 20th century, numerous stalactites were cut off.
tourism
After it started operating as a show cave in 1874, the stalactite cave was always heavily visited and has been a tourist attraction in the Harz Mountains ever since. Around 500 visitors came in 1881, and over 8,000 in 1913. In 1937 there were already 15,000 visitors. After the Second World War , the number of visitors increased enormously. This was due to the fact that the two heavily visited Rübeland stalactite caves ( Baumannshöhle and Hermannshöhle ) were no longer accessible to tourists from western Germany because they were in the Soviet occupation zone and later GDR . The relocation of the main entrance and the installation of the first effect lighting also ensured high visitor numbers. In 1972 more than 200,000 visitors were counted for the first time. After the fall of the Wall , the number of visitors collapsed and dropped to around 50,000 in 2007. The decline in visitors required modernization and contemporary offers in order to be able to maintain the show cave. The renovation of the facility by the district of Osterode am Harz as the new sponsor and the company name as the HöhlenErlebnisZentrum from 2008 caused the number of visitors to rise again. In the years 2010 to 2014 the average number of visitors was around 67,000. With this value, the show cave is in the upper range of the show caves in Germany. The high number of visitors can also be attributed to the convenient location directly on Bundesstraße 242 , which is one of the main feeders for day tourists to the Upper Harz .
Redesign to an adventure center
In the years 2006 to 2008 the cave was expanded with new offers and since then has operated under the name HöhlenErlebnisZentrum . A modern, cube-shaped building with the Museum am Berg was erected at the parking lot of the federal road directly in front of the Iberg , which replaces the former ticket booth in the forest. A newly excavated tunnel that is 160 meters long and rises around 17 percent begins in the building . It is the exhibition area of the Museum im Berg . This is followed by the Iberg stalactite cave in the interior of the mountain. Since the redesign, the cave can be visited all year round, regardless of the weather. The extension of the show cave goes back to an initiative of the district archaeologist Stefan Flindt and was carried out on behalf of the district of Osterode am Harz under the direction of the state monument curator Reinhard Roseneck , who had designed the Cistercian museum in the Walkenried monastery two years earlier . In the course of the conception phase , the archaeological finds from the nearby Lichtenstein cave became more and more important for international research. The cost of building the HöhlenErlebnisZentrum, including the excavation of the tunnel, amounted to 3.85 million euros.
Stalactite cave
The actual cave area of the Iberg stalactite cave, accessible via the new building and the 160 meter long tunnel into the interior of the mountain, has been known as the Fascination Cave since the redesign, which was completed in 2008 . It can only be visited with a guide. The formation of the Iberg as a coral reef and the cave through the weathering of iron ore make it unique in Europe, as does its close connection to historical mining. The cave is one of the smaller show caves in Germany. Children experience it as the kingdom of the dwarf king Hübich, who, according to legend, lives with his people under the Hübichenstein and in the Iberg.
Museum in the mountain
The museum in the mountain is located within the newly excavated 160 meter long connecting tunnel from the new building to the stalactite cave. The motto of the exhibition is A reef on the move . The emergence of the Iberg as a coral reef and its subsequent migration to its current location, the minerals and mining on and in the Iberg are presented using a timeline at three exhibition stations.
Museum on the mountain
The Museum am Berg within the new building is dedicated to the Lichtenstein Cave, about 15 kilometers away, in the karst belt of the southern Harz foreland . The museum exhibition presents the world's oldest genetically proven extended family from the Bronze Age . The bones of people from the Late Bronze Age were found in the cave in 1980 and recovered from 1993 to 2011. Under the ideal conditions in the cave, the bones of at least 65 people (as of 2012) were so well preserved that anthropologists from the University of Göttingen were able to use the bones to further develop the method for analyzing ancient DNA and, for the first time, to record family structures of a prehistoric group of people. The cave was a family grave as some of the dead were closely related. By comparative DNA tests on 278 now living in the surroundings of the Lichtenstein cave subjects in 2007 two highly probable descendants of a man were determined from the Lichtenstein cave and about 40 men, among whom were likely descendants of two other men are from the Lichtenstein cave.
The museum deals with life in the Bronze Age and shows almost all finds from the Lichtenstein Cave, such as bronze jewelry, rings, bracelets and pendants, metal fittings, belt hooks and buttons, pearls, amulets, tools and arrowheads. The traces of cultic celebrations are also exhibited, such as broken glass, needles and awls, charred field crops, remains of plants and food, and animal bones. Since the narrow cave is not open to the public, it was faithfully recreated in a 13-meter-long section. This section, in which the archaeological finds were stored, can be walked on or crawled through in the exhibition. The probable descendants are also presented. Various media, films on science and sound installations enrich the teaching.
From the group of dead, a small family (father, mother, daughter) was reconstructed plastically on the basis of the skull using facial reconstruction and based on DNA findings.
Awards
- In 2011, the museum received the 2011 Museum Prize from the Lower Saxony Sparkasse Foundation .
- In 2015 the museum was awarded the KinderFerienLand Niedersachsen certificate.
Others
The owners of the Iberg stalactite cave are the Lower Saxony State Forests . The district of Göttingen is responsible for the HöhlenErlebnisZentrum , whereby the facility has to pay for itself.
See also
literature
- Literature from and about Iberg stalactite cave in the catalog of the German National Library
- Herbert Lommatzsch: Iberger Tropfsteinhöhle, Iberg-Winterberg, Hübichenstein: Forays through much-visited sights near Bad Grund (Upper Harz) Clausthal-Zellerfeld, 1972
- S. Kempe, F. Reinboth, F. Knolle (Red.): The Iberg stalactite cave near Bad Grund (Harz). Ed .: Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Karstkunde in Niedersachsen e. V., Osterode am Harz, 1985, 60 pages
- Ortrud Krause, Georg Lauterbach: The cave experience center Iberger stalactite cave, examples of geological history and world-class cave archeology in: Our Harz , Clausthal-Zellerfeld, issue 4/2011
Web links
- HöhlenErlebnisZentrum (HEZ; official website)
- Iberg stalactite cave , in HöhlenErlebnisZentrum , on bad-grund-harz.de
- Show caves in Germany , on showcaves.com
- From the distant past: The caves of Bad Grund , NDR report, from February 17, 2012, on ndr.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Information from the HöhlenErlebnisZentrum, district of Osterode am Harz.
- ↑ a b Oldest family in the world discovered , on karstwanderweg.de
- ↑ Map services of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation ( information )
- ↑ Treasure chest Iberg stalactite cave in a new light ( memento from April 12, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ), from February 15, 2013, accessed on February 19, 2013, from harzbote-badgrund.de
- ↑ a b Ortrud Krause, Dr. Georg Lauterbach: The cave experience center Iberg stalactite cave, examples of geological history and world-class cave archeology in: Our Harz, Clausthal-Zellerfeld, issue 4/2011
- ↑ Bernd Sternal: Relatives from the Bronze Age - Iberg Cave Experience Center . 2008. Retrieved February 7, 2010.
- ↑ Anthropology - It's so beautiful here, you could stay here forever , from July 15, 2008, on faz.net (FAZ)
- ↑ Discover & Experience - KinderFerienLand Niedersachsen certified , on Niedersachsen.de