ゲルスバッハの天然記念物・トップ20

The Karst Trail extends over a length of 265 km.

The cozy restaurant serves Thuringian specialties. There is a snack bar with outdoor seating. Here you can wait with a drink and a little something to eat until the tours of the cave begin.

The Barbarossa Cave covers 13,000 square meters and is one of only two existing show caves in the world, made of anhydrite rock, making it a geological rarity. The unique charm of this magical subterranean world lies in the uniquely beautiful, multi-layered play of colors of the white to gray rock.

For me one of the most beautiful stamp points of the Harz hiking badge.

The Reesberg doline lies on a geological boundary between the Bunter sandstone and the anhydrites of the Zechstein. The spring water emerging from the Bunter sandstone is very clear and therefore has a high dissolving potential. It can absorb up to two grams of gypsum per liter and then flows underground. Source: Harzlife

Impressive natural monument. An information board explains the background.

The Barbarossa Cave was discovered purely by chance in December 1865 by miners searching for copper slate and was opened to the public as a show cave just two weeks later. On the approximately 800 m long, exciting journey of discovery through Barbarossa's underground kingdom full of wonders and secrets, you will experience earth's history with all your senses and at the same time learn a lot of interesting things about Emperor Friedrich I Barbarossa and the old legend that surrounds him. Be enchanted by huge, expansive cavities and crystal-clear, shimmering blue-green lakes with their breathtaking ceiling reflections. Spectacular and unique in the world: In the “tannery”, bizarrely curved “plaster rags” over a meter long hang down from the ceiling, reminiscent of hides and hides hung up to dry. The cave rock anhydrite (CaSO4) absorbs the high humidity like a sponge and thereby transforms itself into gypsum.

The Karstwanderweg is a beautiful hiking trail with very interesting scenery.