Wichtelhöhlen (Euerdorf)

Pulpit of the Wichtelhöhlen

Part of the Wichtelhöhlen

The Wichtelhöhlen between Euerdorf and Bad Kissingen in the Bavarian district of Bad Kissingen are about 20 differently sized banked red sandstone rock formations with tiny caves in the valley of the Franconian Saale .

geography

location

The Wichtelhöhlen are located in the southeast of the Bavarian Rhön Nature Park , around 3.5 km northeast of Euerdorf near the border with Bad Kissingen. In your Dorfer district chunk Leite they are west above the the valley of the Franconian Saale extend federal highway 287 and southeast beneath the the Heiligenhof passing road and forest road axis Alte Kissinger Straße - Old Your Straße in the region of western impact slope of the river - on estimated about 250  m ü. NHN . On the other side of the river, about 3 km (as the crow flies ) south-southwest of the center of Bad Kissingen below the Eiringsburg (Eyringsburg) is a golf course .

Natural allocation

The Wichtelhöhlen are located in the natural spatial main unit group Odenwald, Spessart and Südrhön (No. 14), in the main unit South Rhön (140) and in the subunit Eastern South Rhön (140.2) in the outer south of the natural area Schönau plateau (140.20).

history

The Wichtelhöhlen are made of the red sandstone that is often found in Lower Franconia . They were created by washing out the Franconian Saale. The actual “caves” are pronounced crevices and cavities between the broken sandstone slabs. (for detailed information see web links)

Advertisement from 1864 proves its early tourist popularity

At the State Archives in Würzburg there is a collection of files from the year 1911, which concerns the creation of a new promenade path. The project was implemented by the Bad Kissingen bathing commissioner at the time (modern: spa administration). The work was planned for spring 1912. The Wichtelhöhlen should be connected to the Garitz district . The royal spa garden inspector Singer was responsible for the planned construction work. This act can be taken as evidence of early tourist use.

The Wichtelhöhlen has been closed to the public since the first weekend in November 2012 after parts of a larger rock formation had broken off. The clean-up has not yet been completed. Due to the rock breaks, the hiking trails and geological adventure trails "Weg durch die Zeit" (7.5 km long) from Bad Kissingen to Euerdorf and the "Panoramaweg Wein und Stein" (12 km) from Euerdorf to Bad Kissingen were affected Route section diverted. According to an assessment by the Bavarian State Office for the Environment from October 2013, the rocks on the mountain side will also migrate down the Batzenleite into the valley of the Franconian Saale as erosion progresses. The first signs of this detachment from the rock structure are wide crevices and small cavities. In addition, there are suspicions that heavy rain on the weekend before the stone fragments broke.

The owners of the Wichtelhöhlen are the "Bavarian State Forests" and the Bad Brückenau forestry company is responsible.

Protected areas and fauna

The Wichtelhöhlen are a protected part of the landscape and are located in the Bavarian Rhön landscape protection area ( CDDA no. 396113; 959.8  km² in size).

Especially in winter, the small crevices and caves offer a retreat for animals that hibernate or hibernate . These exceptional circumstances lead to a special control by the local nature conservation authorities.

The Bavarian State Office for the Environment has expanded these protective measures with the geoscientific assessment “valuable” and designation as a geotope on March 21, 2013 .

Art and literature

Emil Waldmann , watercolor from the pulpit at the Wichtelhöhlen

In 1873 the Mellrichstädter Johann Nepomuk Müller wrote :

The Wichtelen, the Wichtelen
They live deep in the mountains, They
are tiny, nice things,
Barely bigger than the little fingers,
Much smaller than the dwarfs.

The Wichtelen, the Wichtelen
They come to the mill,
each one carries a grain of corn,
in each there are ten grains of grain - they
put it on the hallway.

In the Saalegrund near Kissingen,
they call it the Patzeleiten, the gnomes
still live there.
You can
see the little things when the moon is full.

Two gnome statues by the Bad Kissingen sculptor Michael Arnold are mentioned in two travel guides from 1891 (Leo Woerl) and 1912 (in Woerl, however, Michael Arnold is not mentioned as the creator of the gnomes). However, these are now lost, probably due to theft.

On the occasion of an exhibition in Bad Bocklet in 2009, the painter and watercolorist Emil Waldmann dedicated a cycle of three watercolors to the theme of 'Wichtelhöhlen'. In 2010 the city administration of Bad Kissingen published a leaflet for the first time as information about the geotope.

Myths and legends

Gnome convent at the pulpit

The elves would hold regular conventions at the pulpit . The leader uses this as a platform for his speeches. There would always be a lot of sounds and noises to be heard in the forest.

The elves in the Lindesmühle help the miller

The elf men once helped the miller of the nearby Lindesmühle (a farmer in different stories). After insulting the elves, they disappeared and the miller (farmer) got into trouble.

Escape tunnel from the messenger arbor

An escape tunnel is said to have existed from the Botenlauben castle ruins . This supposedly ended at the Wichtelhöhlen. The Franconian Saale in between alone makes this story seem unlikely from a structural point of view.

literature

• Franz Anton Balling : The healing springs and baths in Kissingen , 8. umgeänd. u. Probably ed., Bad Kissingen 1876, p. 246.
• Werner Eberth : Michael Arnold (1824–1877) - A sculptor of late classicism , Bad Kissingen 2001, p. 115f.
• Edi Hahn: Bad Kissingen and its surroundings the most beautiful sagas, legends and stories , Bad Kissingen 1986, p. 48ff. ISBN 3-925722-01-7
• Thomas Künzl: Prehistory & Geology - Wichtelhöhlen , city history information (Bad Kissingen city archive) April 2010.
• Josef Lisiecki: Legends and legends from the Bad Kissingen district , Bad Kissingen 1982, p. 43.
• Andreas Wolfgang Nikola: Folk tales from the Saalegau , Bad Kissingen 1936, p. 11f.
• Heike Paulus: Where the elves are at home , Guest Journal February 2005, p. 14f.
• Grieben travel guide: Bad Kissingen and surroundings , Berlin 1939, p. 56.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Map services of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation ( information )
2. ^ State archive Würzburg, Bad Kissingen bathing commissioner, call number 761
3. ↑ Geotopes in Lower Franconia, p. 103 - Wichtelhöhlen
4. ↑ Boulders block the way , Main Post article from November 6, 2012
5. ↑ Danger to life: Wichtelhöhle has collapsed , Saale-Zeitung article from November 5, 2012
6. ↑ Geotope register Bavaria, Geotope number 672R014 Wichtelhöhlen, municipality of Euerdorf, Flurbez. Batzenleite, TK 25: 5826 Bad Kissingen Süd, R: 4361528, H: 5561434, Geoscientific value: valuable (gradation: low, significant, valuable, particularly valuable )
7. ↑ Heike Paulus, Where the elves are at home , p. 14f.
8. ↑ Gnome statues: "Bad Kissingen - Practical guide through the spa town, its near and far surroundings" , E. Clement's publishing house in Bad Kissingen, p. 65
9. ↑ Werner Eberth, Michael Arnold (1824–1877) - A Sculptor of Late Classicism , p. 115f.

Web links

Commons : Wichtelhöhlen (Bad Kissingen)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Further information on geology at bad-kissingen.bund-naturschutz.de
• Wichtelhöhlen photos , on main.de
• Geotope number 672R014 Wichtelhöhlen, municipality of Euerdorf , lfu.bayern.de
• Geotop Wichtelhöhlen Euerdorf , on terra-triassica.de
• Geo educational trail through the area around the Wichtelhöhlen , information on thewebsite ofthe Bavarian State Office for the Environment (PDF; 41.28 KB)

Coordinates: 50 ° 10 ′ 22 ″  N , 10 ° 3 ′ 36.8 ″  E