Baumann's Cave
Encyclopedia
Baumann's Cave is, like nearby Hermann's Cave
, a show cave
in Rübeland
in the district of Harz and is Germany
's oldest show cave.
The grotto was formed in the Devonian
limestone
of the Elbingerode complex as the Bode Valley was being shaped. It was discovered in the 16th century and was visited by tourists from a very early stage. Amongst its most famous visitors was Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
. The cave's biggest chamber, the Goethesaal, is named after him and is fitted with seats and a stage for concerts and plays.
The cave was sealed off from an early date so that its rich display of stalactites and stalagmites has been largely preserved. The cave is particularly famous for, amongst other things, the numerous bones of cave bear
s that have been found there.
Hermann's Cave
Hermann's Cave , together with Baumann's Cave, is one of two show caves in Rübeland near Wernigerode, Germany.The cave was formeed out of the Devonian limestone of the Elbingerode complex during the shaping of the Bode Valley...
, a show cave
Show cave
Show caves — also called tourist caves, public caves, and in the United States, commercial caves — are caves that are managed by a government or commercial organization and made accessible to the general public, usually for an entrance fee...
in Rübeland
Rübeland
Rübeland is a village in the collective municipality of Elbingerode in the district of Harz in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt and, since 2004, has been given the additional description of Höhlenort...
in the district of Harz and is Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
's oldest show cave.
The grotto was formed in the Devonian
Devonian
The Devonian is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic Era spanning from the end of the Silurian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya , to the beginning of the Carboniferous Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya...
limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
of the Elbingerode complex as the Bode Valley was being shaped. It was discovered in the 16th century and was visited by tourists from a very early stage. Amongst its most famous visitors was Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
. The cave's biggest chamber, the Goethesaal, is named after him and is fitted with seats and a stage for concerts and plays.
The cave was sealed off from an early date so that its rich display of stalactites and stalagmites has been largely preserved. The cave is particularly famous for, amongst other things, the numerous bones of cave bear
Cave Bear
The cave bear was a species of bear that lived in Europe during the Pleistocene and became extinct at the beginning of the Last Glacial Maximum about 27,500 years ago....
s that have been found there.
External links
- Official website (in German)
- Baumannshöhle - Stephan Kempe (pdf file; 1.02 MB)