Tantalum cave

Tantalum cave
Location:	Hagen Mountains , Salzburg
Geographic location:	47 ° 29 '45 "  N , 13 ° 4' 55"  E Coordinates: 47 ° 29 '45 "  N , 13 ° 4' 55"  E
Cadastral number:	1335/30
Geology:	Dolomite and Dachstein limestone
Type:	High alpine cave
Discovery:	1947
Overall length:	over 34 km

The Tantalhöhle , sometimes also spelled Tanntalhöhle , is the longest and most famous cave in the Hagengebirge in the state of Salzburg . Its entrance is in the southern slopes of the tantalum heads high above the Blühnbachtal and it is currently around 34 km long. It was discovered in 1947 by the Salzburg jeweler and cave researcher Alfred Koppenwallner.

Surname

Its name does not come from the chemical element of the same name, tantalum , but from the surrounding fir trees (Tanntal = Tannental) that used to stand there. During the time of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, the area was surveyed by Czech cartographers , who recorded the local names in dialect rather onomatopoeia than orthographically. However, the term tantalum cave has been used over many decades and among speleologists it is simply called "the tantalum" .

discovery

The Scheukofen is a well-known cave in the Hagengebirge. Its entrance lies on the layer boundary between dolomite and Dachstein limestone , the two rocks that make up the Hagen Mountains . After the end of the Second World War, the Salzburg cave explorer Alfred Koppenwallner had the idea that further cave entrances could be located at this layer boundary. After days of climbing and searching, he found what he was looking for.

History of exploration

Now a group of speleologists began to explore this cave. The transport of relevant equipment from the city of Salzburg was mostly done by bicycle, additional problems arose from the fact that the Blühnbachtal was designated as a restricted zone by the American occupying forces , which had to be bypassed illegally for the time being. The approach to the cave entrance is largely impassable and consists of dangerous steep climbing .

The exploration of this cave presented the researchers with previously unknown and unimagined problems. Not only technically, through the many ascents and descents, but also physically and mentally - for the first time in the history of cave exploration, days and weeks of expeditions were necessary - the tantalum cave demanded maximum performance from its conquerors.

Room description

The main corridor of the cave stretches about 16 km in a north-easterly direction through the mountain, the numerous descents are repeatedly followed by ascents, at times huge spatial dimensions prevail, in which uninitiated run the risk of getting lost. A specialty of the tantalum cave are the “promenades”: In order to make climbing easier, holes for steel screws that are used as steps were drilled by hand over the course of days. Long “cable cars” were also built, on which you could rope up and down your luggage through large rooms and thus save yourself the strenuous dragging and dangerous climbing with the heavy load on your back.

The deepest part of the main corridor, the so-called sunk , can be closed by the water when snowmelt or heavy rainfall; there are also large amounts of alluvial sand in this area, so the sunk has to be dug up again and again. After the sunk , in the Falling Hall , the first bivouac box was set up in a cave. A telephone line was laid up to this point so that information about the weather could be obtained during an expedition so that the cave could be left in good time in the event of constant rain.

The Grand Canyon , a 100 meter deep shaft, still had to be overcome with self-made wire rope ladders, as the modern SRT rope and safety technology , which at least makes the descent into a shaft relatively easy, did not yet exist. Since it had to be secured with a rope from above, a shaft post that had the task of securing the last descending and the first ascending had to wait upstairs for days. For the shaft posts there was a niche walled up with stones and clay, which bears the name Villa Napoleon Bonaparte in reference to his loneliness during his exile.

After the Grand Canyon , which is followed by the Seven Shafts Hall , the corridors get smaller and smaller and end in the Lost Lake .

Eloquent names

The names of many passages suggest something of the drama of the exploration of this cave. There is a place that says everything back, I only see abysses , another Gustl's sarcophagus , or the Blocksberg , followed by the Witches Dome . Other passages also allow you to feel the beauties of this natural wonder: the Gothic Corridor , the Stone Lake , the spiral staircase , the Hall of Stone Flowers .

Names of researchers

A whole generation of Salzburg cave explorers devoted themselves to researching the main course for years, alongside Alfred Koppenwallner, the discoverer of the cave, his brother, the geometer Franz Xaver Koppenwallner, Albert Morokutti, Gustave Abel and others. Some of the material used to explore the tantalum cave comes from the workshop of the now world-famous crane builder Palfinger , whose founder was also involved in the cave exploration.

Todays situation

In the meantime, numerous side passages have been wrested from the tantalum cave, so that the total length is currently around 35 km.

In the last few decades the tantalum cave has become silent, although the chances are good that it could be related to neighboring large caves such as the Ochsenkarschacht or the Jagerbrunntroghöhle . A cave system of enormous proportions could thus be documented. The State Association for Speleology in Salzburg has meanwhile renovated the Villa Atlantis bivouac box , which is located near the entrance. Perhaps some of its secrets will be extracted from this cave in the future.

Web links

• Images of the cave