Top 10 Caves ヴェーレタールでの

Not much to see, but you can hear the rushing water...

The legend of the helpful, friendly, and sometimes cheeky little gnomes is widespread throughout Hesse. They are little men with triangular hats who live in the forest and caves and sometimes help us or play pranks. 😀 Here near Abterode, you can find the Wichtellöcher (Wichtel holes), where some of the gnomes once lived (or perhaps still do?!)

The slag heap originally consisted of three houses: the still-existing, vacant "Haus Halde" from 1755 (base renewed in 1905, timber framing renewed in 1978, roof insulated in 2012), a second house that was demolished in the 1960s, and a horse stable, of which relatively little is known. The foremen lived in these houses, who oversaw mining in the Schwalbenthaler Erbstollen and the Carlsstollen and accounted for the extracted coal. The foundations of the wooden log cabin of the Eschwege Scouts (Silver Foxes) and the horse stable are still in place; the tunnels were secured in 2002. Source: https://wiki.genealogy.net/Hoher_Mei%C3%9Fner

The so-called Halde, a depression, lies 1,000 meters from the Schwalbenthal valley. The house is still preserved here. The entrance to the New Erbstollen (New Heritage Tunnel) is also located there. This drainage tunnel was excavated in 1628.

On the eastern slope of the Hohen Meißner, above the Halde house and the New Erbstollen, lies the mouth of the Carlsstollen, which was opened in 1630. A channel was used to drain the mine water, which led from the mouth of the tunnel to a cascade-shaped structure, the former "Schwalbenthal waterfall". Lignite was mined in both tunnels until 1888.

According to legend, Mother Holle imprisoned young girls here and turned them into kittens.

A little off the P23 hiking trail, but the short detour is worth it. An information board explains the formation and legends surrounding the limestone caves.

The Halde house is the last remaining property of the Schwalbenthal mining settlement. In front of the house there is an information board that provides information about the mining settlement and mining on the Hohen Meißner. Next to the building there is an entrance to a mining tunnel that is illuminated as a show tunnel. In front of the building there are several types of rock that were mined on the Hohen Meißner and are explained on information boards.