Odelstein Cave

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Odelstein Cave

Descent with fixed rope protection

Descent with fixed rope protection
Location: Ennstal Alps , Austria
Height : 1085  m above sea level A.
Geographic
location: 		47 ° 31 '27.1 "  N , 14 ° 36' 42.9"  E Coordinates: 47 ° 31 '27.1 "  N , 14 ° 36' 42.9"  E
Odelstein Cave (Styria)
Odelstein Cave
Cadastral number: 1722/1
Geology: Devonian Limestone of the Grauwackenzone
Type: Stalactite cave
Discovery: 1909
Show cave since: 1910
Lighting: Hand lamps
Overall length: 600 m
Length of the show
cave area: 		470 m
Particularities: Iron flowers and aragonite

The Odelstein Cave (also Odlstein Cave ) is located on the northern slope of the Grieskogel near Johnsbach .

The cave was widely known for its colorful iron flowers and aragonite crystals . The color is caused by dissolved metals (iron, nickel, cobalt and copper compounds). Numerous tunnels and smelting sites are evidence of mining activity since the Middle Bronze Age . Despite the inaccessible location, the most beautiful iron blossoms and aragonites were plundered by mineral collectors.

history

In 1909, at the suggestion of Hans Kottnigg and Josef Draxler, members of the Association for Speleology began with the exploration. The first plan comes from the cave explorer Rudolf Saar . On June 19, 1910, cave explorers Hermann Bock , Julius Pollak, Georg Lahner and Leopold Potisek climbed the "High Cathedral" with ladders and discovered the "Treasure Chamber". In the same year the Odelstein cave was expanded into a show cave by the owner, Kölblwirt Franz Berghofer, and it was run until the 1930s. On June 30, 1931, the cave was declared a natural monument.

After the Second World War , the management company was no longer taken up. The locked cave has been broken into and plundered again and again over the past few decades. In 2001 the cave was made accessible again and a new, burglar-proof iron gate was installed. The old, rotten wooden ladders were replaced by galvanized lattice ladders. Management was resumed in late autumn 2002.

gallery

  • Yellow deposits

  • Blue deposits

  • Paths partially secured with ladders

literature

  • Dagmar Wolf: The Odelstein Cave - Speleological characteristics and the importance of the show cave in regional projects. Speldok17, Vienna 2006.
  • Volker Weißensteiner: The research and development history of the Odelstein cave (1722/1) near Johnsbach, Styria. In: Die Höhle vol. 57, 2006, pp. 117–124 ( digitized version ).
  • Josef Hasitschka: The Odelstein Cave in Johnsbach once & now . Self-published by Kölblwirt 2003.

Web links