Spannagelhöhle

Spannagelhöhle
	In the sinkhole
Location:	Hintertux T A Zillertal Alps
Height :	2521 m above sea level A.
Geographic ; location:	47 ° 4 '49 " N , 11 ° 40' 18" E Coordinates: 47 ° 4 '49 " N , 11 ° 40' 18" E
Cadastral number:	2515/1
Geology:	Hochstegen lime (= marble)
Discovery:	1919
Show cave since:	1994
Lighting:	electric
Overall length:	approx. 10 km
Length of the show ; cave area:	500 m
Website:	Regional association Tyrol / Spannagelhöhle

The Spannagel Cave is a show cave near Hintertux , in the Zillertal Alps in the Austrian state of Tyrol . The cave is currently about 10 kilometers long, and 500 meters are accessible to visitors as part of guided tours. You can access it under the Spannagelhaus at an altitude of 2531 meters , a mountain restaurant in the Hintertux Glacier summer ski area . It is named after Dr. Rudolf Spannagel , president of the Austrian Tourist Club (ÖTK) from 1902 to 1904 .

Emergence

The Zillertal Alps consist predominantly of plutonites and metamorphites , which do not allow cave formation. Rocks capable of karstification, such as limestone , dolomite , gypsum and other carbonates, are generally only thin. The Spannagel Cave was created in the Jura Hochstegen limestone marble , a marble with over 90% total carbonate content that runs through the slate shell of the western Tauern window . The formation of this extensive cave caused by geological corrosion (or mixture corrosion) is explained by the tectonics of the area.

particularities

Overall, the cave is characterized by strong weather conditions and intensive moisture penetration (up to waterfalls). The various mouth holes sometimes form siphons that can only be accessed by diving . In the cave passages far away from the day there are the rare eccentriques . The Spannagel cave system stretches from the Gefrorne-Wand-Kees glacier to the Lärmstange , 2686 m, and (as of 1977, E. Jacoby) and with a total length of over 12.5 kilometers (previously measured) is the highest large cave in Europe. The contents of the cave (colored marble, various sinter formations , stalactites , crystals, ribbon marbles and erosion caves ) are explained during guided tours . Furthermore, the age, formation, cave flora, cave fauna, cave climate and the composition of the cave air, which is particularly beneficial for people with lung disease, are pointed out. Bats only appear near the mouth holes - but some of them get lost in the entrance area. A cave museum was set up in the eastern section of this corridor , where some finds from the interior of the mountain are exhibited.

History of exploration

In 1919 Alois Hotter, the then hut manager of the Spannagelhaus, discovered the cave entrance. He referred to the cave as the "Horrible Hole" and subsequently used it, as did several tenants after him, as a waste pit.

In 1960 Rudolf Radislovich explored the front part of the cave for the first time with the main passage and water passage , which both meet in the hall of the association . In the following year, Max H. Fink measured the previously discovered cave parts and discovered the labyrinth . In 1964 the Federal Monuments Office declared the cave a natural monument due to its scientific importance . In 1968 Walter Knezicek and Günther J. Wolf discovered two shafts and the Knesi armor on the right edge of the association's hall , which together lead into a tunnel at a depth of around 10 meters; later this was recognized as the beginning of the screw canyon . 1970 Hannes Jodl found at the left end of the hall of the Association , the Post Kastl , which leads to a further continuation of Spannagelhöhle. Günther J. Wolf made his first visit to this section with seven participants on his ice course. The exploration of the Kolkgang (ascending to the Elchskädelgang and Dirndlkammer , a connection to the waterway , descending over the Kolkgang to the Hannes-Jodl-Dom , on the ceiling of which the screw canyon opens, on to the Dr.-Klaus-Karger-Halle and in further pursuit of the scour to the edge of the ÖTK shaft ) meant a doubling of the previously known cave parts and an incentive for further research.

Screw canyon.

The years 1972 to 1975 brought four survey trips by the State Association for Speleology in Tyrol , which penetrated to the Gneisbach. As part of a research week of the Groupe Spéléologique Luxembourgeois with E. Jacoby, M. Möller, G. Mutschlechner and B. Schmitz, the study of the course of the cave brook succeeded in 1975: The color of the water showed that it was located at around 1980 m in the middle of a rock face south of Waldeben comes to light. The Snow Spot Cave, which runs parallel to the Spannagel Cave , was also discovered and measured. In 1976 the State Association for Speleology built a bivouac in the Umkehrhalle. A 50-hour expedition led by E. Jacoby in 1976/77 discovered and explored the spider's passage , the Mutschlechner cathedral and the treasury . In 1978 F. Maiberger and W. Mayr reached the westernmost point of the cave, the belly bath .

In 1984, German cave explorers from the Tyrolean State Association, under the leadership of C. Cavelius, measured the southern system . In 1987 and 1988 the entrance area of the cave was cleared out, and the connecting passage between the rubble hall and Gneisbach was discovered and measured by W. Mayr and G. Völkl. The screw canyon was first used in 1989 by E. Türke and R. Tobitsch.

literature

Max H. Fink (1961): The cave under the Spannagelhaus . - Austrian Tourist newspaper (Vienna) 74 (6): 70
Günther J. Wolf (1971): Ascent into the underworld . - Austrian Tourist newspaper (Vienna) 84 (2): 24–25
Gerhard Schirmer (1976): The cave at the Spannagelhaus . - Austrian Tourist newspaper (Vienna) 88 (9): 109–111
Heinz Ilming, Hans Mrkos (1979): Speleology in Austria since 1961 . - Scientific supplements to the magazine “Die Höhle” (Vienna) 13: 67–81
Gerhard Schirmer (1979): The cave under the Spannagelhaus . - Festschrift “50 years of mountaineering group in Austria. Tourist Club “(Vienna) 123–125
Ernest Jacoby, Günter Krejci (1992): The cave at the Spannagelhaus and its surroundings . - Scientific supplements to the magazine "Die Höhle" 26

Web links

Commons : Spannagelhöhle - Collection of images, videos and audio files