Karls- and Bärenhöhle
| Karls- and Bärenhöhle
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| Location: | Sonnenbühl , Swabian Alb , Germany | |
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Geographic location: |
48 ° 22 '15 " N , 9 ° 12' 55" E | |
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| Cadastral number: | 7621/01 | |
| Geology: | White Jura - Lower Mass Limestone | |
| Type: | Stalactite cave | |
| Discovery: | 1834 | |
| Show cave since: | 1834 | |
| Lighting: | electric (since 1934) | |
| Overall length: | 292 meters | |
| Level difference: | 19 meters | |
| Length of the show cave area: |
271 meters | |
| Average annual number of visitors: | 78,200 (2011-2015) | |
| Current visitors: | 79,836 (2015) | |
| Website: | official page | |
The Karls- und Bärenhöhle , also called Erpfinger Höhle , is located near the Sonnenbühler district Erpfingen in the rock of the white Jurassic limestone. Colloquially, the term bear cave is used for the entire cave. With around 80,000 visitors annually, it is the most visited show cave in the Swabian Alb and one of the most visited caves in Germany.
The Karls- und Bärenhöhle is a stalactite cave . It is made up of the Karlshöhle discovered in 1834 and its continuation, the Bärenhöhle, discovered in 1949. It owes its name to the numerous skeletons of cave bears found in it. Several skulls and bones as well as a restored bear skeleton can be viewed in the cave.
The Karls- und Bärenhöhle is more than 250 m accessible and captivates with its beautiful stalactite and ceiling formations as well as the broad horizon of finds, which extends from the Pleistocene over 1.5 million years ago to the early modern period in the 17th century. The temperature is 8–10 ° C all year round.
The Traumland amusement park has been located on the Bear Cave above the Bear Cave since 1974 .
history
The cave system of the Karls- und Bärenhöhle was created over a period of about five million years. Already around 20,000 years ago it was frequented by cave bears , but also by cave lions and rhinos . Some of the bears' bones can still be viewed today, a fully reconstructed skeleton of a cave bear is on display inside the bear cave.
The Karls- und Bärenhöhle is now protected as a geotope under the name Karls- und Bärenhöhle on the southwest slope of the Höllberg approx. 2800 m above sea level from Erpfingen . Since April 2013, the bear cave has also been one of 26 information points of the UNESCO Geopark Swabian Alb .
(Re) discovery
The Karlshöhle was rediscovered in 1834 by the Erpfingen teacher Fauth in search of medicinal herbs. His snuffbox had fallen into a crack in the rock. While trying to fish it out, Fauth discovered that there was a large cave under the crack. In his honor, the entrance column to the cave was named as Fauthsloch . The anecdote of the discovery is still told today at the beginning of every tour of the cave. Apparently the crevice had already been used in the Middle Ages to throw plague victims into it, the skeletons of which were found during exploration below the crevice . The large number of cave bear bones found was also striking.
In 1949, the cave guide Karl August Bez, while watching the flight of bats , discovered the continuation of the cave with a small passage at the end of the Karlshöhle. In this continuation there were again significantly more bear bones, which is why the newly discovered section was called the bear cave .
Development
As early as 1934, the Karlshöhle was provided with electric light to make sightseeing possible. As early as 1950, just one year after the bear cave was discovered, the entire cave system was equipped with a walkable path and an artificial tunnel made it possible to exit the bear cave. Since then, the entire cave can be visited over a length of 271 meters.
Color changes due to algae growth
The development of greenish discoloration and moss formation on some rocks in the cave was probably caused by the use of fluorescent tubes containing UV light. For this reason, fluorescent tubes are not used in other caves and the lights are only switched on during guided tours. Therefore, no flashing light may be used in stalactite caves .
In 2015, the old lights in the Karls- und Bärenhöhle were replaced by energy-saving LED lighting. One hall of the Karlshöhle and one of the Bear's Caves are illuminated in color.
Stalagmite in the bear cave
In the cave
The Fauthsloch
Moss growth under artificial lighting
Visitor numbers from 1990 to 2015
See also
- List of caves worldwide
literature
- Hans Binder , Herbert Jantschke: Cave guide Swabian Alb. Caves - springs - waterfalls . 7th completely revised edition. DRW-Verlag, Leinfelden-Echterdingen 2003, ISBN 3-87181-485-7 , p. 178-179 .
- Hans Binder, Anke Luz, Hans Martin Luz: Show caves in Germany . Aegis Verlag, Ulm 1993, ISBN 3-87005-040-3 , pp. 100-102.
Web links
- Official website of the Karls- und Bärenhöhle and the Nebelhöhle
- Information about the bear cave from showcaves.com
- Karst caves in Baden-Württemberg
- Profile of the individual nature monument in the LUBW's list of protected areas
- Geotope profile at the State Office for Geology, Raw Materials and Mining
Individual evidence
- ↑ Tourist information community Sonnenbühl. Website of the community of Sonnenbühl. Retrieved April 2, 2015.
- ↑ www.showcaves.com ( Memento of the original from June 27, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Show caves in Germany: Bear and Karl caves near Erpfingen , accessed on July 9, 2010
- ^ Geotope profile of the LGRB
- ↑ The Bear Cave is the most popular at Reiserat.de , accessed on July 9, 2010
- ↑ Anke Leuschke: Bear and Nebelhöhle now with LED lighting - The Alb - Reutlinger General-Anzeiger - gea.de . In: gea.de . May 6, 2015 ( gea.de [accessed on September 22, 2018]).
- ↑ Sonnenbühl Cave Worlds: Bear Cave. Retrieved September 22, 2018 .
