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| In Deutsch |
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| In Deutsch |
| Location: |
100m below the summit of the Wendelstein, on the southern side.
5 minutes from the top station of the rack railway.
A8 exit Irschenberg, B472 10km to Miesbach, B307 to Osterhofen near Bayrischzell, take Seilbahn (cable car). A93 exit Brannenburg, take Wendelstein-Zahnradbahn (rack railway) from Flintsbach am Inn. Bayerische Alpen (Bavarian Alps) or Schlierseer Alpen (Schliersee Alps). (Kat.-nr.1279/1) (86,Mf62) |
| Open: | Depends on snow, normally MAY-OCT daily 10-17. [2006] |
| Fee: |
Adults EUR 1.
Automatically revolving door, bring coin!
Zahnradbahn: Adults EUR 24.20, Children (6-15) EUR 12.30, Families (2+n) EUR 53.60. Groups (15+): Adults EUR 22, Children (6-15) EUR 9.90. Groups (50+): Adults EUR 20.50, Children (6-15) EUR 9.90. Seilbahn: Adults EUR 17.50, Children (6-15) EUR 12.30, Families (2+n) EUR 40.20. Groups (15+): Adults EUR 15.80, Children (6-15) EUR 8.80. Groups (50+): Adults EUR 14.50, Children (6-15) EUR 8.80. [2006] |
| Classification: |
 Karst cave,
horizontal cave,
Trias (Wettersteinkalk)
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| Light: | electric |
| Dimension: |
L=523m, VR=97m, A=1,711m a.s.l.
Entrance Hall: H=17m, T=3°C. |
| Guided tours: | L=440m, St=164, V=20,000/a [2005]. |
| Bibliography: |
Peter Hofmann (2005):
Mensch & Höhle - Wege im Inntal,
Ein anthropospeläologischer Exkursionsführer zu den Höhlen des unteren Inntales zwischen Rosenheim und Kufstein.
BOD-Verlag, Norderstedt, Mai 2005 ISBN 3-8334-2811-2.
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| Address: | Wendelsteinbahn, Rosenheimer Straße 88, W-8204 Brannenburg, Tel: +49-8034/2071 |
| Last update: | $Date: 2007/11/19 21:30:49 $ |
| 1864 | discovered by a mountaineer from Bayrischzell. | |
| 1882 | explored by Prof. Dr. Max Kleiber. | |
| 1883 | report published by Baumann. | |
| 1886 | report published by Ratzel. | |
| 1921 | opened to the public, electric light. | |
| 1922 | first survey by the newly founded Gesellschaft für Höhlenkunde from München (Munich). | |
| 1962 | renovation of paths and electric light, artificial entrance tunnel. | |
| 1994 | new cave passages discovered by the Verein für Höhlenkunde München (Caving Club Munich). |
The Wendelsteinhöhle (Wendelstein Cave) is probably the most extrardinary show cave of Germany, just because of its exposed location. It is located inside the summit on an mountain, at a height of more than 1,700m, and thus an alpiue cave. It is a socalled fissuer cave, a narrow gorge formed along a vertical fissure in the rock, with impressive erosional forms, but no big chambers and no speleothems. Located in the fossil-rich Triassic Wettersteinkalk, the cave walls show fossils at various locations, which were preparated by erosion.
The Wendelstein summit may be reacht in three different ways: by cable car, by rack railroad or by foot. The cave is exceptionally good to reach if one takes one of the inclines, only two minutes walk to the acve entrance. The entrance fee is payed by throwing a coin into the automatically revolving door, then the visitor is free to enter the cave self guided. The natural cave is reached by an entrance tunnel, 82 steps lead down to the level of the main passage.
The natural entrance of the cave is located at the foot of southeastern wall of the summit, but it is not safe due to rockfall. But it is easy to rech the entrance from inside the cave, turning right at the end of the tunnel the path ends after 30m in the entrance hall. With a 17m high cceiling, this chamber is rather impressive, the eye looks up the steep slope to the east looking entrance portal. This place is the deepest point of the cave, cold air flowing into the cave during winter is trapped here. The air keeps cols all the year, even on the hottest days it does not rise above the freezing point. Melting water in spring, which reaches this place, freezes and forms all kind of fantastic sculptures, which stay during most of the summer.
Even more interesting is the other end of the main passage. At first it is wide and about three meters high. This part shows a heavy air circulation and is thus almost as cold as the entrance hall. But the the character changes, th passage becomes narrow and up to 15m high. After 170m the path ends in the dome. Despite its name, this is not a chamber, but the crossing between different passages. The temperature in this part of the cave is 3°C.
The main question in this exceptional karst cave is: how could it be formed on top of a mountain? The answer is simple: it was not, it was formed millions of years ago before this became a mountain. When this area looked like a hillcountry, at the beginning of the Alpine orogeny, the cave was formed by water from an catchment area to the west and south. It drained to the east, about 1,200m above the Inn valley of today. The northern rim of the Alps was uplifted continually for millions of years. At the same time the erosion and the rivers cut into the rocks. The surface was lifted too, mountain ridge formed, but the valleys more or less stayed at the altitude they were before. However, soon after this process had started the cave became dry and cave formation ended.
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