Teufelshöhle

Devils Cave

Useful Information

Location:	Near Steinau an der Straße, 3 km north at the road to Freiensteinau. From Fulda 35 km on highway B40, from Frankfurt on motorway A66 to Steinau. (48,Kc46)
Open:	Good Friday to OCT Mon-Fri 13-17, Sat 13-19, Sun, Hol 10-19. [2004]
Fee:	Adults EUR 2, Children EUR 1.50. Groups (15+): Adults EUR 1.80, Children EUR 1. [2004]
Classification:	Karst Cave cave system, Unterer Muschelkalk (Middle Triassic)
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:	L=137 m, VR=18 m. BR: L=6 m, B=6 m, H=16 m.
Guided tours:	L=124 m, D=20 min., max. 20 pers, V=15,000/a [2005].
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:	Heinrich Appel (o.J.): Entstehung und Erforschung von Tropfsteinhöhlen
Address:	Verkehrsbüro der Stadt Steinau an der Straße, Brüder Grimm Straße 47, 36396 Steinau a. d. Straße, Tel. +49-6663-9631-0 oder +49-6663-9631-33. 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

1584	cow caved in, doline discovered by the cowboy Jox Mellmann.
1830	Paper maker journeyman Walter from Steinau is the first who descends into the cave.
14-JUN-1898	Exploration by street builder Lüders, street keeper Methfessel and tiler master Scheer.
1905	Start of development, 50 m long entrance adit built.
11-NOV-1912	Foundation of the Verein zur Erschließung der Tropfsteinhöhle.
10-MAR-1924	declared a Naturschutzgebiet (natural park).
1952	reopened after World War II.
1998	additional room developed.

Description

The Teufelshöhle (Devils' Cave) is one of only three show caves in Hessen. It is very small, maybe the smallest show cave of Germany. The Dom (Dome) is the only big hall in the cave, the other parts are only narrow clefts. This hall was formed at the junction of several small passages. The reason for this strange morphology may be Speleology mixture corrosion.

The most interesting fact about this cave is its location. To the north lies the basaltic mountain Vogelsberg, the largest volcanic area in middle Europe. The Vogelsberg is located in a belt of lower Triassic sandstones, extending from the Pfälzer Wald across Odenwald, Spessart, Kassel to the Solling. Just here a small isolated area of middle Triassic limestones exists, which is karstified.

The cave was discovered after a cow fell into the opening of the Dom at the end of the 19th century. According to legend thats the origin of the name: the cowboy saw the cow vanishing into a hole in the ground. He thought it was grabbed aby the devil and eaten. So the locals avoided the cave for 250 years. During the 19th century, the cave was first explored. and the skull of an ape was found inside. But this was just a joke of the local pharmacist, who hid the scull here.

It is a 10 minutes walk from the parking lot at the road uphill to the cave. Disabled may drive up to the cave entrance. The road is a single line gravel road to the cave entrance.