Zwiefaltendorfer Tropfsteinhöhle

Dripstone Cave of Zwiefaltendorf


Useful Information

Location: From 44 km to Obermarchtal, turn right to Zwiefaltendorf. Below the restaurant and brewery Zum Rössle in Zwiefaltendorf. 26,5 km NE Sigmaringen. (74,Kd59)
Open: During the open hours of the restaurant.
All year Tue-Sat 11-21.
Tours on the full hour or on availability of a guide.
[2018]
Fee: Free.
[2018]
Classification: Speleologytufa cave, Speleologyprimary cave. SubterraneaIce Cellars
Light: LightIncandescent Electric Light System
Dimension: L=26.5 m, W=3 m, H=4 m.
Guided tours: L=20 m, D=15 min.
Photography: allowed
Accessibility: no
Bibliography:
Address: Familie Blank, Gasthaus Zum Rößle, Von-Speth-Straße 19, 88499 Riedlingen-Zwiefaltendorf, Tel: +49-7373-643, Fax: +49-7373-2533. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then.
Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

19-JAN-1892 discovered.
15-MAR-1892 opened to the public.
1988 during flood of Danube, water level in the rear part of the cave at 2.20 m.

Description

The Zwiefaltendorfer Tropfsteinhöhle (dripstone cave of Zwiefaltendorf) was discovered in 1892, when the brewery cellars were extended. The brewery already had three levels of beer cellars, and the owner planned to build a fourth level below. But when the men started to dig, they soon found the cave. They dug a staircase into the soft tufa, leveled the floor of the cave and two months later the cave was opened to the public with a celebration. It seems rather logical to inaugurate a cave owned by a landlord with a festival...

Today the cave is still entered through three levels of beer cellars with brewery equipment and beer barrels. The tours are typically guided by the son or daughter of the landlord, who will answer questions on beer brewing and destilling Schnaps. The products of the house can be consumed after the tour in the restaurant above or taken home. The brewery makes a fine beer, but today it is not stored in the historic beer cellers you see on your tour. Even the beer elevator does not work. And on the floor above the cave is a vault which was used as ice cellar, which is now completely empty. Ice was cut from a lake or from an artificial frozen waterfall and then stored in this cellar. If there was enough ice it stayed there until next winter, and the room could be used to fridge beer.

The small river Zwiefalter Aach flows along the restaurant, right above the cave. The beer garden of the restaurant sits on a bridge above the flowng water, and the river contains cages for trouts, which are sold at the restaurant But quite strangely its water has no connection to the beer cellars or the cave below. The tufa is completely impermeable, othervise the water would sooner or later fill the cellars. The cave is 10 m deep below the surface, at the level of the nearby Danube. And although there is no connection to the Aach above, there is a connection to the Danube 50 m away. When the Danube has high water, the cave gets flooded and it is not possible to visit the cave.

The Zwiefaltendorfer Tropfsteinhöhle is a SpeleologyTufa Cave, it belongs to the rare kind of Speleologyprimary caves. This explains, why the cave is called Tropfsteinhöhle (dripstone cave): the cave does not contain dripstone, it is formed inside a block of dripstone (tufa, travertine).