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Caves

Appenzell Innerrhoden

Schwende

Hermit's Cave (Wildkirchli Caves)

Caves

Appenzell Innerrhoden

Schwende

Hermit's Cave (Wildkirchli Caves)

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Hermit's Cave (Wildkirchli Caves)

Recommended by 402 hikers out of 414

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Location: Schwende, Appenzell Innerrhoden, Eastern Switzerland, Switzerland

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Best Hikes to Hermit's Cave (Wildkirchli Caves)

4.9

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1. Seealpsee – Seealpsee loop from Weissbad

16.4km

06:23

810m

Expert hike. Very good fitness required. Sure-footedness, sturdy shoes and alpine experience required.

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4.9

(524)

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2. View of Seealpsee – Seealpsee loop from Wasserauen

11.6km

05:11

780m

Expert hike. Very good fitness required. Sure-footedness, sturdy shoes and alpine experience required.

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4.9

(186)

1,032

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3. Schäfler Ridge Trail – Seealpsee loop from Wasserauen

14.5km

06:52

1,030m

Expert hike. Very good fitness required. Sure-footedness, sturdy shoes and alpine experience required.

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Tips

Paul

August 3, 2024

Wildkirchli Caves
Three interconnected wide caves (Altar Cave or Kirchli Cave, Lower Cave, Upper Cave) at an altitude of 1488-1500 m in the up to 120 m high rock face on the eastern edge of the Ebenalp, southwest of Weissbad (municipality of Schwende AI). The Altar Cave with a flat barrel vault, the entrance of which widens like a vestibule, was set up as a chapel by Pastor Paulus Ulmann in 1657. This was given an altar back wall in 1785 and a new bell tower in 1860. A wall closes off the rear part of the cave (cellar cave) under the wet transverse gap. Hermits lived in the Lower Cave during the summer months from 1658 to 1853. It was then used as a festival hut (guest house cave) for the Aescher guest house. Since 1972 the renovated hermit's house has served as a museum. The Lower Cave narrows at the back to a passage that leads into a high, wide cave inside the mountain (Upper Cave). In this, you can reach the cave gate 12 m higher up via a massive pile of rubble. Early finds of bones and teeth of cave bears from the area of the rocky path in front of the lower caves came to the Natural History Museum in St. Gallen. To expand the collection, Emil Bächler carried out excavations in the three caves from 1903 to 1908. In 1904, he discovered prehistoric tools in flint-like pieces of rock from an upper layer of the Altar Cave. Their similarity to types from the Mousterian (Paleolithic) proved for the first time the presence of Neanderthals in the mountains. People spoke of the Wildkirchli culture. Later finds in other mountain caves led to the term Alpine Paleolithic. Both terms are no longer generally used today.
The state of research around 1900 only vaguely identified the relationship between cave bear bones and cultural remains during the Younger Ice Age. It was only after 1950 that special sediment analyses made it possible to classify the cave sediments in the fine division of the last Ice Age (Würm Ice Age) that had since taken place, and thus to date them to an age of around 60,000-10,000 years. The majority of the altar cave remained untouched. Here, the old excavation rubble could be quickly excavated and a complete layer profile exposed for observation of the individual sediment parts and for taking samples.
Text / Source: Historical Dictionary of Switzerland (HLS)
hls-dhs-dss.ch/de/articles/012768/2014-11-11

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Silke on Tour 🏞️

July 29, 2024

The hiking trail leads through the cave 😊.
With some information on the cave walls.

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Roger Eggenberger 🐾👣

June 24, 2025

A great cave, with very interesting information. The hiking trail leads directly through the cave.

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Elevation 1,550 m

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Monday 10 November

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Location: Schwende, Appenzell Innerrhoden, Eastern Switzerland, Switzerland

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Hermit's Cave (Wildkirchli Caves)

1. Seealpsee – Seealpsee loop from Weissbad

2. View of Seealpsee – Seealpsee loop from Wasserauen

3. Schäfler Ridge Trail – Seealpsee loop from Wasserauen

Other Popular Places to Check Out

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