Wellensteinhöhle

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The Wellenstein cave as seen from the L 1 road in February 2020. In front of it, the Wellenstein residence
Wellensteinhöhle
Close up

The Wellenstein Cave natural monument is located in the Wellenstein parcel in the municipality of Lochau in Vorarlberg , Austria . It is a longer rock overhang ( half cave ) in the Nagelfluhwand at the "Langen Stein" below the street Am Stein , above the Ansitz Wellenstein at the fork in the street: Bregenzer Straße / Lindauer Straße L 190 / Landstraße L 1 (at the small monument Langer Stein ), at the foot of the Pfänders at about 452  m above sea level. A.

Origin, size, finds

The formation of this rock overhang (half cave) was the result of the weathering of the marl lying below the Nagelfluh , which resulted in the cave-like structure, the deep rock overhang. The largest rock overhang, which has also been scientifically investigated, is about 25 meters above the current level of Lake Constance and is about 24 meters wide, is a maximum of 7 meters deep and at the highest point about 7 meters high. A prehistoric settlement was proven here during excavations in 1910/1911. Vessel fragments, smoothed and split bones as well as a broadly conical urn under an irregular tuff slab were found (see: Urnfield culture from 1300 to 800 BC). Below the current level of this half-cave (balme) a nine-meter-deep cave with remains of bones was found. This cave is up to 1.85 meters high and has an area of ​​about 50 m². From this cave there is another side branch about 6 meters long and 2 meters wide, which is, however, largely filled. This cave is no longer accessible.

literature

  • Gerhard Grabher: Late Bronze Age Urn , in: Tobias G. Natter (Ed.): 150 Years of Donations , Bregenz 2007, Vorarlberger Landesmuseum, pp. 14–15.
  • Elmar Vonbank: Vorarlberg , in: L. Franz, AR Neumann: Lexicon of prehistoric and early historical sites in Austria , Vienna 1965, p. 186.
  • Oswald Menghin, Gero von Merhart: The excavation of the cave near the Gute Wellenstein , community of Lochau, in: Oswald Menghin (arrangement): The prehistoric finds of Vorarlberg , Baden near Vienna 1937 (= Österreichische Kunsttopographie XXVII), pp. 33–35.
  • Walter Krieg, Rudolf Alge: Vorarlberger natural monuments. Von Baumriesen, Höhlen und Teufelssteinen , Hard 1991, Hecht-Verlag, ISBN 3-85430-151-0 .

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Walter Krieg, Rudolf Alge: Vorarlberger Naturdenkmale. From giant trees, caves and devil's stones , p. 71.
  2. ↑ Gerhard Grabher: Late Bronze Age Urne , p. 14.
  3. ↑ Oswald Menghin, Gero von Merhart: The excavation of the cave at the Gute Wellenstein , p. 33.

Coordinates: 47 ° 31 '23.4 "  N , 9 ° 45' 13.7"  E