Luegstein Höhle

Grafenloch

Useful Information

Location:	Mühlauer Str. 24, 83088 Kiefersfelden. A93 exit Oberaudorf, to Oberaudorf, left onto Kufsteiner Straße, right into Seestraße. (47.643070, 12.173953)
Open:	No restrictions. [2023]
Fee:	free. [2023]
Classification:	Karst cave Höhlenburg
Light:	bring torch
Dimension:	A=610 m asl, L=23.5 m, VR=4 m.
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	difficult access, surefootedness necessary
Bibliography:
Address:	Kaiser-Reich Tourist Information, Rathauspl. 5, 83088 Kiefersfelden, Tel: +49-8033-9765-27. 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

10th century	castle built.
13th century	castle abandoned.
2008	archaeologic excavation.

Description

Above the village Mühlbach, which belongs to Oberaustein, is a cave castle named Höhlenburg Luegstein, located inside a small cave named Luegstein Höhle (Outlook cave) or Grafenloch (Counts' Hole). It is reached fom the end of Bergweg in Mühlbach with a short walk, and is also part of the Audorfer Höhlenweg (Audorf Cave Trail). This trail connects four caves the Ponorhöhle (sink cave) in the Burgberg, the cave restaurant Weber an der Wand, the Rossstall (Horses Stable), and the nearby cave castle.

The castele was erected around 1,000 by the lords von Lueg as ancestral seat. In the 13th century they erected a new and bigger castle on the nearby Burgberg named Burg Auerburg. When this castle was completed in 1250 the cave castle was abandoned. Today only some ruined walls at the cave portal remain. The cave was easy to fortify, a single wall closed the entrance portal. The entrance is 4 m above the path to the cave and until today a ladder is necessary to reach the cave. The right wall of the cave has some human traces, most likely holes for timbers for a wooden floor. Thats indicated that the cave castle once had two levels.

The term lueg is not used anymore, except in the Swabian and Swiss dialects. Lueg or lugen means to look, probably the English term has the same origin. So it is most likely that the name is a result of the overwhelming view from the cave entrance. It is possible to see a huge portion of the Inn valley and the Kaisergebirge on the other side.

The count von Auer inherited his title and power by killing his parents. One day a gypsy woman predicted him his close death by a thunderbolt. She said it was the retribution for killing his parents. Soon after a thunderbolt hit the tower of his castle, and he believed in the prediction. He moved into the cave castle as he thought to be safe from thunderbolts inside the cave. But one day he was fleeing from a sudden storm into the cave and was hit by a thunderbolt on the ladder into the cave.

This legend about the cave castle seems to us to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. If he had not believed in the prophecy, he would not have fled to the cave castle and thus would not have been struck dead by lightning on the ladder.