Devil's Table (Lake Constance)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Devil's table when the water is low , with sign E.6 .

The Teufelstisch is a rock formation in the Überlinger See (the northwestern part of Lake Constance ) opposite Überlingen . It is a rock needle that is in front of the steep drop of the shallow water area (the "rock") on the Bodanrück in the bank area between Wallhausen and the beginning of the Marienschlucht . The rock needle ends in a flat plate just below the surface of the water.

location

From the land side, the Teufelstisch can only be seen on the Lake Constance circular route from Wallhausen towards Marienschlucht, just under a kilometer northwest of Wallhausen, on the right. The Teufelstisch is marked with the sea ​​mark 22 on the lake side . From the bank you can recognize it by the back of the navigation mark and the light color of the water above the elliptical shoal.

nature

The plateau of the Teufelstisch, which is often visible even from the surface of the lake, has a size of around 22 m × 10 m (area: 160 m²) and is usually up to 1.5 m, at high tide up to 3 m below the water surface. On the lake side, the wall of the Teufelstisch falls almost vertically to a depth of around 90 m. The Teufelstisch is located 50 m from the bank and 14 m from the low water area on the bank. A narrow rock walkway on the south-south-western side of the table, the so-called saddle , connects the rock spikes at a depth of around 32 m with the rock of the Bodanrück base on the shore, so that actually only a little more than 30 m of the pinnacle are really free.

Emergence of the surface

The plateau is only above the water surface when the water is very low. When the water level is below 2.40 meters, it is partially accessible, and when the water level is below 2.30 meters, the entire surface protrudes from Lake Constance. These events are reported from the years 1823, 1854, 1858, 1909, 1949, 1963, and 1972.

Danger situation

Steep bank at Marienschlucht and Teufelstisch

This unusual geological underwater column has been an attractive challenge among divers for decades. Steep walls are considered difficult by recreational divers for orientation and psychological reasons.

There are vertical underwater waves in the Überlinger See, which occur rarely and irregularly and lead to rapid sinking or buoyancy.

The main sources of danger are diving too deep, poor balance, or inadequate equipment (such as too much lead or insufficient protection against the cold). For orientation, only dive down and up the wall. Disorientation is overcome by diving towards the shore with the help of a compass. Possible impairments while diving can result from concentration problems during deep intoxication and from pain and paralysis during decompression sickness .

Diving ban

After a few fatal accidents, diving was initially restricted, then partially and, despite legal proceedings, finally banned in 1994. Experienced divers are only allowed to dive there with a special permit.

The following deaths, including among rescue divers and experienced divers, have been reported:

  • 1977: 4 dead
  • 1979: 2 dead
  • 1991: 1 dead person 400 meters away
  • 1993: 2 dead on the edge of the no-diving zone
  • End of April 2011: 1 dead. He was an experienced diver and was recovered at a depth of 61 meters not far from the Teufelstisch.

Typical rescue measures

During a rescue operation in the vicinity of the Teufelstisch in 2015, emergency services, motor rescue boats, emergency vehicles and divers from the German Lifesaving Society from Konstanz, Bodman, Wallhausen, as well as a police boat, police patrol, a rescue helicopter from Friedrichshafen and an ambulance were used. A decompression chamber for the treatment of decompression sickness is kept in the Helios Hospital in Überlingen.

Movies

  • Expedition home. Out and about on the Überlinger See. Germany 2015. Shown in SWR / SR on August 21, 2015, 8:15 pm to 9:00 pm. (In the last minutes of the film, a dive at the Teufelstisch is shown: under water, the short distance between the Teufelstisch and the shore, a circumnavigation dive and a view from 40 meters down into the dark.)

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Willy Küsters, completely revised. by Karlheinz Bishop: Bodensee primer: Vademecum d. Landscape in the heart of Europe f. Sea hares and Guests . 6th, revised edition. Rosgarten-Verlag, Konstanz 1984, ISBN 3-87685-059-2 , p. 63 (keyword Wallhausen).
  2. ↑ Guido H. Frick: Depressed mood . In: Südkurier . No. 154 , July 8, 1977, p. 12 ( available online at teufelstisch.de [accessed on July 6, 2015]).
  3. ↑ Hugo Schmid: Low water - the devil's table at level 2.40. (No longer available online.) In: ylb.de. Yacht Club Ludwigshafen Bodensee eV, January 5, 2006, archived from the original on July 6, 2015 ; Retrieved July 6, 2015 .
  4. ^ Margrit Höring: Devil's Table. (PDF; 3.11 MiB) In: Skull & Riemen - Ruderzeitung ÜRC, No. 5, 3rd year. Überlinger Ruderclub Bodan eV, April 2006, p. 5 , accessed on July 6, 2015 .
  5. ^ A b c Albrecht Steudel: The frozen Lake Constance of the year 1880. In: German ice sport. Journal for the Interests of Ice Sports, Volume VIII, No. 3 of November 10, 1898, pp. 21–23, No. 5 of November 24, 1898, pp. 36–39, here p. 37
  6. ↑ a b c Guido H. Frick: Teufelstisch - hardly explored yet . In: Südkurier . No. 153 , July 7, 1977, pp. 12 ( available online at teufelstisch.de [accessed June 24, 2015]).
  7. ↑ Roland Dost: Emaciated to the skeleton. In: Südkurier. Südkurier GmbH Medienhaus, January 11, 2006, p. 24 , accessed on December 3, 2011 .
  8. ↑ TV show: Saturday evening: Freizeitparadies Bodensee. SWR television , June 14, 2008, 8:15 p.m. - 9:45 p.m.
  9. ↑ a b Franz Domgörgen: How dangerous are underwater waves for divers in Lake Constance? In: Südkurier. Südkurier GmbH Medienhaus, June 23, 2012, accessed on June 6, 2015 .
  10. ↑ Matthias Eisenmann: What is different at the Teufelstisch? In: teufelstisch.de. Eckart Spitzberg, accessed June 6, 2015 .
  11. ↑ a b Dieter Leder: Exuberant party in deep intoxication. In: Südkurier. February 13, 2017.
  12. ^ NJW 1998, 2235
  13. ↑ Baden-Württemberg administrative sheets 1998, 25
  14. ↑ VGH-BW , AZ: 8 S 2683/96
  15. ^ A b c d Eckart Spitzberg, Matthias Eisenmann: Overview. In: teufelstisch.de. Eckart Spitzberg, accessed January 17, 2013 .
  16. ^ Ramona Löffler: Mysterious accident at the devil's table. In: Südkurier. 19th August 2015.

Coordinates: 47 ° 45 ′ 13.5 ″  N , 9 ° 7 ′ 30.5 ″  E