Doktorshöhle

Useful Information

Location:	Muggendorf. Below the cell phone antenna on the Hohe Kreuz towards southwest.
Open:	no restrictions. [2014]
Fee:	free [2014]
Classification:	Karst cave
Light:	none, bring torch
Dimension:	L=35 m, A=512 m asl.
Guided tours:
Photography:	Allowed
Accessibility:
Bibliography:	H.W. Franke, K.O. Münnich, J.C. Vogel (1959): Erste Ergebnisse von Kohlenstoff-Isotopenmessungen an Kalksinter, Die Höhle, Jg 21, H 2, 17-22; Wien.
Address:
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History

1905	discovered by the M. D. Adolf Schauwienhold.
1959	first article about C-14 measures from this cave.

Description

Doktorshöhle (Doctors Cave) was named after its discoverer, Adolf Schauwienhold, who was medical doctor in the nearby village Muggendorf. He discovered the cave in 1905, but it was almost completely filled with cave sediments. So he started to excavate it, but not with the plan to discover archaeological or palaeontological remain, but to discover a enormous cave system with beautiful speleothems. The result was a small cave with some nice little speleothems in side branches and impressive rmeains of a two metre thick layer of limestone sand. The content of the cave was transported to the entrance and thrown down the hill. It forms a sort of plateau in front of the cave now.

The importance of this cave came much later. Herbert W. Franke, the famous Austrian journalist, scientist, speleologist and science fiction author, was the first who thought about dating speleothems using the C-14 method. He made the very first attemt to do so with speleothems he gathered from the flowstone layers at the walls of this caves. The results were first published in 1959. Today this method for dating speleothems has become one of the most important tools of modern climatology.