| Location: | A13 (43) exit Widnau or Oberriet, about 10km to Altstätten, 15km to Appenzell, 1km before Appenzell turn left to Steinegg, Weissbad, Schwende. Follow signs to Ebenalp cable car. At the end of the road, behind the cable car parking. The caves are 15 mins walk from the upper (Ebenalp) station. Follow signs. |
| Open: | no restrictions |
| Fee: | none |
| Classification: |
 Karst cave,
cave ruin
|
| Light: | not necessary |
| Dimension: | A=1,477m to 1,500m asl. |
| Guided tours: | n/a |
| Bibliography: | |
| Address: |
No address for the cave itself.
Berggasthaus Aescher Wildkirchli, Beny & Claudia Knechtle-Wyss, CH-9057 Weissbad AI, Tel: +41-71799-1142, Fax: +41-71799-1856. E-mail: Museum Appenzell, Hauptgasse 4, 9050 Appenzell, Tel. +41-71788-9631, Fax +41-71788-9649. E-mail: |
| Last update: | $Date: 2007/12/11 20:13:22 $ |
| 1524 | first mentioned in a description of the Pilatus mountains by Joachim Vadian. | |
| 1621 | cave first visited by P. Philipp Tanner, first altar in the cave built. | |
| 1646 | Bau eines steinernen Altars, einer Sakristei und eines Eremitenhäuschens in der Höhle auf Veranlassung von P. Philipp. | |
| 1658-60 | first hermit in the cave was Paulus Ulmann. From this time hermits, called Waldbrüder lived in the cave. | |
| 1716 | first detailed description by the Capuchin P. Clemns from Appenzell in the book Naturhistorie des Schweizerlandes (Natural History of Switzerland) by Johann Jakob Scheuchzer. | |
| 1786 | first copper engraving by the artist Georg Leonhard Hartmann from Sankt Gallen. | |
| 1853 | the last hermit died after he took a purler when collecting leaves. | |
| 1864 | first hydrogeologic dye tracing experiment, using brasilian wood, unfortunately without result. | |
| 1902 | relief in the Aescher wall by Viktor von Schäffel inaugurated. | |
| 1903-1908 | excavations by the St. Gallen archaeologist Emil Bächler. | |
| 1958-1960 | excavations by Elisabeth Schmid. |
The Wildkirchli, the name may be translated into "little church in the wilderness", is a huge cave ruin in the southeast flank of the Ebenalp mountain. It was used for several hundred years, by shepards staying there with their herds and sometimes as a church.
All in all there are various caves summarized under the term Wildkirchli or Aescher Wildkirchli. They are located at about 1,500m asl. A small wooden church is built into one entrance of the cave.
The Wildkirchli caves were excavated at the beginning of the 20th century, between 1903 and 1908, by the St. Gallen archaeologist Emil Bächler (1868-1950). He was first looking for bones of the cave bear (Ursus spelaeus) which he found, but then he discovered
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