Ludwigshöhle
| Ludwigshöhle
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| Location: | Franconian Switzerland , Germany | |
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Geographic location: |
49 ° 49 '35 " N , 11 ° 22' 37" E | |
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| Cadastral number: | B 26 | |
| Type: | Passage cave | |
| Lighting: | no | |
| Overall length: | 50 m | |
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The Ludwigshöhle or König-Ludwig-Höhle is a natural karst cave near Neumühle , a district of the Upper Franconian community Ahorntal in the district of Bayreuth in Bavaria .
It was formerly also called Kühloch or Rabenloch and is a through cave on the north-western edge of the Ailsbach valley, not far from Rabenstein Castle and the Sophienhöhle show cave in Franconian Switzerland .
location
The Ludwigshöhle is located on the northwestern slope of the narrow, winding Ailsbach valley near the municipality of Ahorntal in the Upper Franconian district of Bayreuth . The valley has many steep rock bastions and the greatest density of caves in Franconian Switzerland. A parking lot is located 20 meters below the cave, directly on the state road 2185. From there, a bridge over the Ailsbach and a short steep path leads to the Kühloch.
geology
The cave is located in fossil sponge reefs in the Franconian dolomite of the Malm in the Jura . The 28 meter wide and 11 meter high cave portal has a dome-shaped structure. The cave essentially runs along the horizontal joints of the sponge reefs.
History of origin
In the southern German White Jura , all of southern Germany lay in the area of a shallow sea for about 161 to 150 million years. During this time, due to the constant subsidence of the crust, massive rock sequences were deposited on the sea floor. The Jura sediments today form the largest part of the rocks occurring in the Franconian Alb and are also the basic material of the cooling hole.
The sea retreated due to uplifts of the European continental plate towards the end of the Upper Jurassic and larger areas became mainland at the beginning of the following Cretaceous period. During this time there was a tropical climate and intensive weathering of the limestone and dolomite rocks that had previously formed. This karstification created the underground cavity of the cave.
The cave, which may have already existed in the Upper Cretaceous period , was then almost completely filled with washed-in loamy sediments. During this time, another sea pushed forward into the area of the Franconian Alb.
After the sea receded, the Ailsbach, which was then higher up, was able to flow into the cave, widened it and carried away the deposited sediments.
In the Tertiary , regional uplift resulted in a renewed sea decline and partial exposure of the Jura landscape.
Extensive overhangs, so-called balms, have also been preserved; they are now the habitat of unique plant communities, the so-called balm corridors.
history
The Ludwigshöhle was already used by prehistoric people. The cave got its name in 1830 when the Bavarian King Ludwig I visited the Ailsbach Valley at the invitation of the Reich Councilor, Count Erwein von Schönborn-Wiesentheid . In honor of the king, the count invited a feast in the cave. To do this, he had the cave floor leveled and a plaque with the inscription "Ludwigshöhle" attached.
A hiking trail with wooden railings runs through the cave, which does not require any special equipment. The current state of the cave, especially the flat, terraced floor, is entirely due to human influence. The cave lacks any stalactite or sintered jewelry.
literature
- Gustav Voit, Brigitte Kaulich, Walter Rüfer: From the countryside in the mountains to Franconian Switzerland - a landscape is discovered . (Series of publications by the Fränkische-Schweiz-Verein, Volume 8) Verlag Palm and Enke, Erlangen 1992, ISBN 3-7896-0511-5 , pp. 263-267.
- Friedrich Herrmann: Caves of the Franconian and Hersbrucker Switzerland . 2nd improved edition. Hans Carl Verlag, Nuremberg 1991, ISBN 3-418-00356-7 , pp. 84-85.
Individual evidence
- ↑ www.hfgb.de (PDF; 53 kB)
- ↑ Gustav Voit, Brigitte Kaulich, Walter Rüfer: From the country in the mountains to Franconian Switzerland - A landscape is discovered , p. 263 and Friedrich Herrmann: Höhlen der Fränkische and Hersbrucker Schweiz , p. 84
- ↑ Friedrich Herrmann: Höhlen der Franconian and Hersbrucker Switzerland , p. 84
- ↑ www.freizeit.frankenjura.com
