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| In Deutsch |
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| Image: a view to the ceiling of the main passage. The whole cave looks like a high and narrow cleft without speleothems. |
| Location: | From Bad Urach B465 towards Münsingen, after 2km turn left to Wittlingen, from Wittlingen 30min. walk to Ruine (Castle) Hohenwittlingen. Cave is located at the northern slope below the castle. (73,Kc58) |
| Open: |
Summer: no restrictions. Winter: closed for bat protection. [2007] |
| Fee: |
free. [2007] |
| Classification: |
 Karst cave,
horizontal cave, upper Jurassic limestone (Malm).
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| Light: | none |
| Guided tours: | n/a |
| Dimension: | L=120m, W=1-2m, H=3-4m |
| Bibliography: |
Dr. David Friedrich Weinland (1876):
Rulaman. See also  Rulaman
( )
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| Address: | |
| Last update: | $Date: 2007/11/19 21:30:40 $ |
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| Image: the main passage is an easy walk. |
A local legend tells us, in the year 1341 a knight Herr von Schilling had an accident in or at the cave. This sounds like a good explanation for the name Schillingshöhle (Schilling Cave), but there are no historic documents who proof this. Today often the name Schillerhöhle (Schiller Cave) is used. It resembles Friedrich Schiller, the famous German poet, but it is most likely just an erroneous spelling of the older name.
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| Image: cave visitors inside the cave. |
The Schillingshöhle plays an important role in the book
Rulaman
()
by David Friedrich Weinland, it is called Tulkahöhle
in the book and described as the cave shelter of a Stone Age tribe.
The book Rulamann is the first try, to publish scientific results in archaeology in a popular form. The result is an exciting adventure story about the boy Rulaman, which is still fun to read.
This cave was used by the author, when he described the fictional cave, because the whole area including cave and castle was owned by his family. He lived in a house right above the cave and knew the cave very well. So did his sons. And from some short stories he narrated his children about the far history of their property, he developed a novell, which was published with great sucess. At the end of the 19th century a local proverb explained: every farmer on the Swabian Jura has two books: the Bible and the Rulaman! The book was translated in other languages, at least into French and Russian. If you know of other editions, please drop us a line!
It was natural, to use this cave for the book. But that was very unaccurate, as no remains of Stone Age usage have ever been found at this cave, despite numerous important finds in other caves of the area. But the author was archaeologist, and many other details in his book were very accurate and represented the state of the art at the end of the 19th century. He filled some holes with fantasy and added some inaccuracies for the sake of suspense.
For many years the cave was lighted once a year by the local caving club. This is discontinued to reduce the number of visitors a little bit. But the cave is easy to visit for wanderers and signposted trails go to the cave entrance, so it is still very frequented. There are no developed trails, but the path is rather wide and very high. The passage is straight and horizontal, until at the end a curve leads down to a sort of cave clay swamp. It is highly recommended to avoid this swamp.
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| Schillerhöhle Gallery |
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