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| In Deutsch |
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| In Deutsch |
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| Image: the entrance, a guided tour on its way into the cave. |
| Location: | A8 exit Merklingen, 12km south to Sontheim. 2km south of Sontheim, in the Tiefental. Leave the road from the Autobahn and enter Sontheim, follw signs towards Seißen. Follow the road Sontheim-Seißen, after 2km turn right, 5 min/300 m walk from parking lot. (74,Ke58) | |
| Open: |
MAY to OCT Sat 14-17, Sun, Hol 10-17. Tours every hour on the hour. Restaurant: MAY to OCT Sat 14-22, Sun, Hol 9-19. [2008] |
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| Fee: |
Adults EUR 2, Children (0-14) EUR 1.50. Groups (15+): Adults EUR 1.70, Children (0-14) EUR 1.20. [2008] |
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| Classification: |
 Karst cave,
horizontal cave, Malm
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| Light: | electric, LED | |
| Dimension: | L=530m, VR=37m, A=720m asl Portal: W=7m, H=12m. | |
| Guided tours: | L=192m, D=20min., every hour. | |
| Photography: | ||
| Accessibility: | ||
| Bibliography: |
Helmut Frank, Erich Ruopp, Herbert Keifer (1997):
Führer durch die Sontheimer Höhle,
4th ed., 41 pp, 17 illus, 1 survey, 1 table. n.A. (1971): 500 Jahre Sontheimer Höhle Pfingsten 1971, |
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| Address: |
Höhlenverein Sontheim, 72535 Heroldstadt, Tel: +49-7389-90900 or +49-7389-353.
E-mail: Weekdays appointments, Werner Thierfelder, Tel: +49-172-4434038. E-mail: |
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| Last update: | $Date: 2011/12/13 08:49:11 $ |
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| Image: an impressive side passage. |
| 3./4. century | early alemannic grave inside the cave. | |
| 1488 | first description of the cave by Fabri, the prior of the Dominicans in Ulm. | |
| 20-OCT-1516 | visit by Herzog Ulrich von Württemberg, the sovereign of this area. | |
| 1753 | description and first map by Prälat Weissensee. | |
| 1791 | description by Rössler. | |
| 1823 | description by Gustav Schwab, a famous German historian. | |
| 03-JUL-1825 | first big cave celebration which revived the old tradition of cave celebrations with Illumination which started after the visit of the sovereign in 1516. | |
| 1825 | description and map in the Oberamtsbeschreibung des OA Münsingen (official description of the administrative district of Münsingen). | |
| 20-JUN-1857 | comprehensive publication released at the annual cave celebration. | |
| 16-MAR-1956 | founding of the Höhlenverein Sontheim (Cave Club Sontheim). | |
| 1957 | electric light. | |
| 29-31-MAY-1971 | inauguration of the cave entrance building at the annual cave celebration. | |
| 1971 | new survey by the HHVL and the HV Sontheim, map drawn by Helmut Frank. | |
| 1977 | discovery of a double grave from the Merowingan time (3./4. century, early alemannic) during an excavation of the Landesamt für Denkmalpflege from Tübingen. | |
| 2010 | new LED light system installed. |
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| Image: the descend leads down to the sole of the chamber, where the main cave passage starts. |
The Sontheimer Höhle is the oldest show cave of the Schwabian Jura and one of the oldest show caves of the world. The first official guided tour took place at the 20-MAY-1516, during a visit of Herzog Ulrich von Württemberg. At this time the yearly illumination of the cave and the tradition of cave celebrations started.
It is not known how long and how often those celebrations were made, but it ended and the tradition was revived in 1825. Since this year, every year a cave celebration was held at the cave entrance, always with special presentations. In former times this were the only days in the year, the cave was lit. The whole cave was illuminated by candles and petroleum lamps.
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| Image: in the main branch the path continually descents to the final chamber. |
Today the celebration is every year on Whitsunday. This is the only day in the year, when a small cave called Hintere Kohlhaldenhöhle is open. The single room is full of slim stalagmites, also called pilars. They are about 10 to 15 cm in diameter and one to two meters high.
This chamber was discovered several years ago, when a new generator house was built. It is not part of the regular cave tour to protect its beauty and the animals in the cave. Numerous bats live in this small cave.
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| Image: the maost impressive stalagmite of the cave called the Hut. |
The Sontheimer Höhle is entered through a huge portal, which was formed by the collapse of part of the ceiling of the first chamber of the cave. A steep stair leads down the slope, formed by debris from the collapse. After some time the original cave level is reached, and the path follows a passage in this niveau, but still leading slightly downwards. This passage is a dead end, the tour goes back the same path.
This part of the cave is not as big as the entrance hall, but still huge. It shows several formations, which unfortunately have a rather bad state, because of the centuries of human visits, which were made using torches and candles. The grime from this time still covers the walls.
This cave has always been very famous for its bat colonies. In the fifties and sixties ten thousands of bats were counted in the cave. In the following years, agriculture was intensified and decrease of food combined with the use of insecticides reduced the bat population dramatically. In the seventies only a few animals remained.
Since the eighties intensive bat protection programmes and the reduction of herbicide use lead to an slow but constant increase in bat population. The temporary number of bats is much better than in the seventies, although it does not reach the magnitude of the fifties.
The cave club is very active in several scientific researches. A small cave zoo installed by a member of the club, contains some true troglobionts. The door of the cave is equipped with a modern sensors to detect movements of the bats.
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| Sontheimer Höhle Gallery |
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