Top 4 Caves around Bastheim

When you arrive at this place, you're immediately impressed because you didn't expect it to be like this. It's definitely worth seeing.

Mary's Grotto, with altar niche and standing stone figure of Mary, 20th century, in front of the Gangolf Chapel

Transcript of the information board. The Women's Cave When the old Hildenburg Castle was devastated and set on fire, the Lord of Hildenburg and all his servants and men perished in a cruel manner. The young lady and her maids, however, fled with great treasures into a walled underground passage. The end of the passage is the women's cave in the ice ditch, which was also called Klefalls or Klefallsloch. However, the lady from Hillenberg and her ladies did not reach this exit. They all died in the underground passage. To this day they guard their treasures. Every seven years they are allowed to emerge from their underground kingdom and show themselves to people. They sit on a pile of wood or on a heap of brushwood and sing such beautiful tunes that the hearts of those who hear them tremble. Many people have already tried to get through the Klefallsloch into the underground passage and to the great treasures. But no one has managed it so far. After just a few steps you come to an iron door or plate. It is also said to be very dangerous to look for the treasure down there. The women's cave, one of the rare natural caves in the basalt. It is also protected by law as a natural monument. Its name is partly explained by the fact that women used this cave to hide from the cruelty of the Mercenaries were hiding there. Others said that the Women's Cave was the end of the underground passage that leads from Hildenburg. The legend, which has often been laughed at by "enlightened" contemporaries and dismissed with a pitying shrug, was confirmed when Hermann Happel from Mühlbach discovered a new entrance in 1965 next to the previously known eight-meter-deep cave that ended in a six-cubic-meter-large room. The cave, also called "Klefallsloch", was examined and measured by speleologists from Düsseldorf in 1972. They discovered a cave system 50 cm long and 20 m deep. The cave consists of narrow crevices, collapsed passages and two small rooms. In the lower part there is a canyon about 5 m long and 1.5 m deep. No traces of human hands were discovered. The entrance to the Women's Cave is walled up. It is strongly advised to exercise caution in the area, as deep crevices in the rocks are dangerous and there is a risk of collapse in some places. Bavarian Rhön Nature Park Association

One of the few known caves in the Rhön

Mariengrotte is a shady resting place in summer

The Mariengrotte is located at the beginning of the Way of the Cross through the forest. Many benches invite you to linger.

The women's cave or the entrance, which is closed by a grille, is quite inconspicuous. But caves are rare in basalt rock and in this respect it is something special. It was probably created by shifting earth and was scientifically examined and measured in detail in 1972.

A mighty rock. Legend of the Devil's Cellar: When the Rhön was still pagan, the devil still felt like the master of the area. But then Saint Kilian came to the country, preached Christianity, and many were baptized. This made the devil terribly angry. When work began on building a church in the valley, the devil became so angry that he dragged all the stones that had been brought to build the church up to the Gangolfsberg and joined them together to form a grotto so tightly that no one could separate them. When people noticed this, they drew a cross on every building stone. The devil had to leave it alone. But the stones that he had brought up previously formed the Devil's Church. The devil lived hidden in this Devil's Church, which was actually just a dark cave, and continued to cause mischief on earth. Unsuspecting farmers, berry pickers, and hard-working forest workers had to make his acquaintance. He offered the good people money to win them over to his schemes and to lead them astray. One day, however, someone confided in a priest because he had a bad conscience. That same day, some brave men set out with the priest to drive the devil out of his hiding place with prayers and holy water. And so it happened. The cave smelled of sulphur and when the priest sprayed the holy water, the devil came out of the cave cursing loudly and has not been seen since. That is why the place is still called the Devil's Cellar today and sometimes it is said that it still smells of sulphur today.