Wimsen cave
| Wimsen cave
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 Entrance to the Wimsen cave |
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| Location: | Swabian Alb , Germany | |
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Geographic location: |
48 ° 15 '23.4 " N , 9 ° 26' 53.5" E | |
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| Type: | Water cave | |
| Discovery: | First mentioned in 1447 | |
| Show cave since: | 1803 | |
| Lighting: | electric (since 1927) | |
| Overall length: | 1,260 meters | |
| Length of the show cave area: |
70 meters | |
| Particularities: | The only cave in Germany that can be accessed by boat | |
| Website: | official page | |
The Wimsener Höhle - actually in honor of Duke Friedrich II. (Later King Friedrich I), who visited the cave in 1803, Friedrichshöhle - is the only water cave in Germany that can be accessed by water vehicle . It is located in the municipality of Hayingen on the Swabian Alb and about three kilometers north of Zwiefalten .
Of the 1,260 meter length of the cave, not even ten percent are accessible to normal visitors who are driven into the cave on a boat, as the cave ceiling descends about 70 meters behind the entrance to the surface of the water. The rest of the passageway can only be explored with diving equipment.
The Zwiefalter Aach rises from the cave . The source pours a minimum of about 60 l / s, an average of 590 l / s, a maximum of 6240 l / s.
Entrance area
The inside of the Wimsen cave
Cave entrance from the inside
history
The cave was first mentioned in documents in 1447.
In 1803, as mentioned above, Elector Friedrich I visited the cave. In the same year, Philipp Christian von Normann-Ehrenfels thanked the Elector for the appointment as minister and the award of Ehrenfels Castle , which also included Wimsen and the cave, by having an inscription in Latin verse above the cave entrance:
- “Grata tuum praesens numen mea nympha salutat.
- Laetior unda tibi nunc Friderice fluit.
- MDCCCIII. IX Aug FF Normann.
- The nymph who reigns here gratefully welcomes the distinguished visitor .
- You flow happier now, Friedrich, the rustling oh.
- August 9, 1803 Friedrich Freiherr von Normann. "
In 1910 the limestone cave was already partially measured, but it was not until 1959, after a siphon had been successfully penetrated, that further explorations and measurements could be made. Jochen Hasenmayer , among others, played an important role in this, who was able to penetrate the cave up to 400 m and 40 m deep between 1961 and 1975.
In 1995 potsherds and human bones were found in the cave, some of which date from the late Bronze Age. At that time the water level was lower and the cave was dry. This is also proven by the stalactites, which only arise in the dry, but were found in more than two meters of water. It was not until the twelfth century that the stream was dammed just below the cave exit for the Wimsener Mühle. A small hydroelectric power station still stands there today.
See also
literature
- Hans Binder , Anke Luz, Hans Martin Luz: Show caves in Germany . Aegis Verlag, Ulm 1993, ISBN 3-87005-040-3 , pp. 96-97.
