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Caves

Tübingen District

Smugglers' Cave Meßstetten

Caves

Tübingen District

Smugglers' Cave Meßstetten

Highlight • Cave

Smugglers' Cave Meßstetten

Recommended by 20 hikers out of 26

This Highlight is in a protected area

Please check local regulations for: Naturpark Obere Donau

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Location: Meßstetten, Zollernalbkreis, Tübingen District, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

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Best Hikes to Smugglers' Cave Meßstetten

5.0

(2)

hikers

1. Torfelsen Viewpoint – Torfelsen Viewpoint loop from Lautlingen

9.13km

02:46

310m

Intermediate hike. Good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels.

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Intermediate

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2. Torfelsen Viewpoint – Hossinger Ladder loop from Meßstetten

17.2km

05:06

500m

Expert hike. Very good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels.

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Expert

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🦣 𝕸𝖆𝖒𝖒𝖚𝖙 𝕱𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖐 🏒🥅👨🏼‍🚒🚒

February 1, 2025

Location: about 100 m northwest of the northwest end of the Meßstetten residential area of Bueloch, accessible on foot via a narrow path from Freithofstrasse via Kirchlesfels and Schreifels; 901 m above sea level
Size: 27 m long, entrance height 1.50 m, entrance width 1.30 m
The cave is quite narrow and low.

Until 1835, goods for traders were smuggled across the customs borders guarded by country hunters between the Duchy of Württemberg (Meßstetten) and the Free Imperial Knighthood (Lautlingen). The cave is said to have been the starting point and warehouse for this.

Source: cojote-outdoor.de/schwaebische-alb-2/hoehlen-schwaebische-alb/schmugglerhoehle-messstetten

Cave - smuggler's cave - beautiful rock formations - Meßstetten - Zollernalbkreis

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Jörg und Philia - Die Alb-Vagabunden

November 7, 2020

Location: about 100 m northwest of the northwestern end of the Bueloch residential area of Meßstetter, accessible on foot via a narrow path from Freithofstrasse via Kirchlesfels and Schreifels; 901 m above sea level
Size: 27 m long, entrance height 1.50 m, entrance width 1.30 m

The cave is very narrow and low.

Until 1835, goods for traders were smuggled across the customs borders between the Duchy of Württemberg (Meßstetten) and the Free Imperial Knighthood (Lautlingen), which were guarded by country hunters. The cave is said to have been the starting point and warehouse for this.

Source: cojote-outdoor.de/schwaebische-alb-2/hoehlen-schwaebische-alb/schmugglerhoehle-messstetten

Translated by Google •

🦣 𝕸𝖆𝖒𝖒𝖚𝖙 𝕱𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖐 🏒🥅👨🏼‍🚒🚒

February 1, 2025

Smugglers' paths
It is documented that goods were smuggled for traders across the customs borders guarded by the police until 1835 in the area. Caves are said to have been the starting point and warehouse for the nightly smuggling and theft. In 1698, almost a ton of steel ingots were smuggled. In 1750, the donkey miller from the Winterlinger Bannmühle bought 130 bushels of spelt from Meßstetten and Hossingen and had it smuggled across the border into Switzerland. As 1000 bushels were also bought and smuggled from Hechingen, there was a grain shortage. Coffee smuggler Haux was hit by a bullet from the Meßstetten police on July 21, 1831 in the Pfaffental and died. The author Gerd Stiefel[28] also describes the smuggling business in his novel Via Bologna. The starting point of the historical crime story is an actual murder in the winter of 1843. The perpetrator, Jakob Egle, used a path that leads from the Lautlingen area to the Meßstetten smugglers' cave (♁48° 11′ 18.68″ N, 8° 57′ 46.23″ E) to escape and fled across Europe. Smugglers also supplied underground Protestant believers with Bibles and Protestant writings. To minimize the risk of discovery, the title pages were removed.

Source: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lautlingen

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Elevation 470 m

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Location: Meßstetten, Zollernalbkreis, Tübingen District, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

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Smugglers' Cave Meßstetten

1. Torfelsen Viewpoint – Torfelsen Viewpoint loop from Lautlingen

2. Torfelsen Viewpoint – Hossinger Ladder loop from Meßstetten

Other Popular Places to Check Out

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