Tüfelsschlucht

Teufelsschlucht


Useful Information

Location: Schluchtweg 16, 4614 Hägendorf.
A2 exit 14 Egerkingen, B5 to Hägendorf, at second roundabout signposted.
(47.335763, 7.838526)
Open: No restrictions.
[2023]
Fee: free.
[2023]
Classification: GorgeGorge
Light: n/a
Dimension: L=3 km.
Guided tours: self guided, L=2,830 m, St=204.
Photography: allowed
Accessibility: no
Bibliography: Hans Stünz (1998): Sandloch (Tüfelsschlucht), AGS-INFO 2/98. pdf
Address: Verkehrs- und Verschönerungsverein Hägendorf, Bachstrasse 11, 4614 Hägendorf, Tel: +41-62-2162213. 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

1902 first development of lower part of the gorge by the Verkehrs- und Verschönerungsverein Hägendorf (VVH).
1910 second development of upper part of the gorge for the Lungenheilstätte Allerheiligenberg.
JUL-1926 after a heavy thunderstorm, a flood destroys the trail in the gorge and floods parts of the village.
MAY-1994 after heavy rainfall a rockfall at the Tuffbrunnen destroys the trail, a gallery is built to protect visitors from further rockfall.
DEC-1999 the infamous storm Lothar causes enormous damage in the gorge, which remains closed for half a year.
DEC-2011 tufa block breaks off and destroys the trail.

Description

The Teufelsschlucht (Devil's Gorge) is also called Tüfelsschlucht in the local dialect. Old names were Teufelsgraben or Cholersbachgraben. The entrance to the gorge is in the center of the village Hägendorf, the village was built on both sides of the gorge. Just follow the Schluchtweg. The trail is 2,830 m long and has 37 bridges.

The Jura mountains consist of karstified Jurassic limestones. But the uplift of the Alps during the last 10 Million years compressed the layers and formed huge folds. The folds run from the east to the west, but drainage here runs perpendicular. The Cholersbach thus created a gorge which cuts through one of those folds.

There are several caves along the gorge. The most famous is the Sandloch (Sand Cave), which actually contains a thick layer of sand. There is also a place where the limestone rich karst water of a spring deposits tufa, the place is called Tuffbrunnen (Tufa Well). The growing rock reached a size in 2011 which, probably supported by ice freezing in cracks, caused the fall of a huge block of tufa. It destroyed the trail completely and was so huge, it had to be cut up, the stream bed dredged and the path rebuilt.

The first part gorge was developed in 1902 by the Verkehrs- und Verschönerungsverein Hägendorf (VVH), a local non-profit organization. In 1910 the second part was developed when a hospital for the treatment of chronic diseases was built at the Allerheiligenberg. The Lungenheilstätte Allerheiligenberg was dedicated to the treatment of tuberculosis.

D'Tüfelsschlucht

by Elisabeth Pfluger


The rocky gorge cut by the Cholergrabe and the Höferbächli did not originally have the name Tüfelsschlucht. That is how it came to be:

From the Ungerwald up once came a Devil with a poor soul, he wanted to take down to hell. He got lost on the way and fell into the gorge of Chölerbach. "It's nice and cool there now," he said, and he jumped into the big pool with his poor soul. It was a whistle and a steam! But the Devil was able to bathe in the wonderfully cold water.

Then he delivered the soul in hell, and returned with a whole gang of his comrades. They splashed down the stream, jumped over the waterfalls, fell into the gullies, lakes and streams and drooled. And they were swearing so loud that the resin was driven out of the fir trees.

But in the village below, the people were all glum and looked up at the mountain. Steam poured out of the gorge and hung as dark clouds over the mountain and the village. The stream smelled of sulphur and fire, and the water was so hot. The trouts died and swam belly up down the stream. Then the devils in their wantonness cut down all the trees and even threw stones and boulders into the stream bed to dam up the water. And so it went on day after day, and people moaned or cursed.

Finally, the people of Hägendorf went to the Capuchin monastery in Olte to ask for advice and help. A priest came to the village and first spoke to the people in the church. Then he climbed up into the ravine, all alone, while the people in the church prayed and lit candles. It thundered and throbbed, whistled and wailed, then thick clouds of mist rose into the air. Only after twice three hours did the good Father return, tired and exhausted from the battle with evil. The brown hair on his head and beard had turned chalky white, and on his left temple he had a mark, as if from a fiery claw. But since then the devils have been banished from the village and the gorge, and the stream flows clear and pure again. Only the name Tüfelsschlucht has remained.


From the volume "Solothurner Geistersagen", Verlag Aare Solothurn