Bear's Cave (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

: Bärenhöhle) is a

tourist cave A show cave—also called tourist cave, public cave, and, in the United States, commercial cave—is a cave which has been made accessible to the public for guided visits. Definition A show cave is a cave that has been made accessible to ...

Sonnenbühl Sonnenbühl is a municipality in the district of Reutlingen, state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Sonnenbühl is a municipality on the plateau of the Swabian Alb, just south of Reutlingen. The seat of the municipality is in the district Undinge ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It is named after the numerous

cave bear The cave bear (''Ursus spelaeus'') is a prehistoric species of bear that lived in Europe and Asia during the Pleistocene and became extinct about 24,000 years ago during the Last Glacial Maximum. Both the word ''cave'' and the scientific name '' ...

skeletons found there, that likely inhabited the site 20,000 years ago. With 80,000 visitors annually, it is the most visited show cave in

Swabian Jura The Swabian Jura ( , more rarely ), sometimes also named Swabian Alps in English, is a mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, extending from southwest to northeast and in width. It is named after the region of Swabia. It is part of th ...

. Bear's Cave was formed in limestone of the

White Jurassic The White Jurassic or White Jura ( or ''Weißjura'') in earth history refers to the upper of the three lithostratigraphic units of the South German Jurassic, the latter being understood not as a geographical, but a geological term in the sense ...

, and provided shelter for various types of prehistoric animals. The caves have also been home to a theme park, ''Dreamland,'' since 1974. The cave is made up of two parts, the Karlshöhle, discovered in 1834, and the Bärenhöhle, discovered in 1949. The first part of the cave was initially vandalised and pillaged by visitors upon its discovery, and was only reopened to the public upon the discovery of the second cave.

History

The cave system was developed over a period of about five million years. Fossils show that 20,000 years ago, bears,

rhinoceros A rhinoceros ( ; ; ; : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant taxon, extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls) in the family (biology), famil ...

es and German cave lions roamed the area, and full reconstructions of the bear's

skeleton A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of most animals. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is a rigid outer shell that holds up an organism's shape; the endoskeleton, a rigid internal fra ...

s can be viewed on the site today. 8,000 years ago, it was inhabited by

human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') or modern humans are the most common and widespread species of primate, and the last surviving species of the genus ''Homo''. They are Hominidae, great apes characterized by their Prehistory of nakedness and clothing ...

s. The stalactites in the cave were formed in White Jura. Since April 2013, the site has been one of the 26 information points of

UNESCO Global Geoparks UNESCO Global Geoparks (UGGp) are geoparks certified by the UNESCO Global Geoparks Council as meeting all the requirements for belonging to the Global Geoparks Network (GGN). The GGN is both a network of geoparks and the agency of the United Nati ...

Discovery of Karlshöhle

In 1834, a local teacher known

mononymously A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. A mononym may be the person's only name, given to them at birth. This was routine in most ancient societies, and remains ...

as "Fauth" accidentally discovered this part of the cave. While collecting herbs, he dropped his Tabaksdose (tobacco packet) into a crevice, which he found he could widen and climb down. The next day, him and his friends opened up the cave to tourists, who raided it for souvenirs, or vandalised its geology. Today, the entrance Fauth found is named "Fauthloch" in his honour.

Discovery of Bärenhöhle

In 1949, Karl Bez, a recreational cave explorer saw a bat disappear through a crack. He climbed through and found 30 bear skeletons in this undiscovered part of the caves.

''Dreamland''

The bear-themed park ''Dreamland'' (

: ''Traumland'') has been operating in Bear's cave since 1974. The Ferris wheel with the highest location in Europe can be found there.

References

{{Authority control Show caves in Germany Cave bear Swabian Jura Landforms of Baden-Württemberg Limestone caves