Top 20 Natural Monuments around Lingenau

A particularly beautiful natural monument is the tufa slope in Lingenau. It is one of the most magnificent travertine formations in Europe north of the Alps and thus one of the most outstanding geological features in Vorarlberg. Here, spring water plunges over a roughly 40-meter-high escarpment, approximately 30 meters wide, into the Subersach Gorge. The conglomerate rock outcrop, visible in some places, is partially covered by several meters of travertine and spring tufa. On the overhangs, mushroom-shaped layers of travertine have developed into stalactite-like canopies. At the base of the rock face, the water collects in several travertine pools. Beneath the waterfall, the calcareous water encrustes the slope down to the Subersach River. Plant and animal remains are covered and encrusted by the lime. After the organic matter dissolves, an exact imprint (fossils) remains. The resulting porous, sponge-like rock is called travertine, the denser form being travertine.

A particularly beautiful natural monument is the tufa slope in Lingenau. It is one of the most magnificent travertine formations in Europe north of the Alps and thus one of the most outstanding geological features in Vorarlberg. Here, spring water plunges over a roughly 40-meter-high escarpment, approximately 30 meters wide, into the Subersach Gorge. The conglomerate outcrop, visible in some places, is partially covered by several meters of travertine and spring tufa. On the overhangs, mushroom-shaped layers of deposits have developed into stalactite-like canopies. At the base of the rock face, the water collects in several travertine pools. Beneath the waterfall, the calcareous water encrustes the slope down to the Subersach River. Plant and animal remains are covered and encrusted by the lime. After the organic matter dissolves, an exact imprint (fossils) remains. The resulting porous, sponge-like rock is called travertine, the denser form being travertine. Tufa is a light, porous rock that is easy to work. It has proven itself in the past as a building material – especially for stables and vaulted structures. Tufa was used in the construction of the nearby Baroque St. Anna Chapel, which dates from 1722.

A very beautiful raised bog near Sulzberg. Worth a visit at any time of year 🥰.

The spring tuff is an impressive natural spectacle 🤩 Great sight 🤩

The tuff rocks are a natural spectacle and you can easily hike to them 👍

the gorge is worth a detour

The tufa springs in Lingenau are one of the most impressive natural phenomena in Vorarlberg. On this short hike, you can experience the formation of rocks almost in real time. But what exactly is this tufa spring? From a geological perspective, the term "tuff" is actually incorrect. Tuff refers to rock formed from solidified volcanic ash. When the Romans conquered Vorarlberg around 15 BC, they also came to the Bregenzerwald. The strange rock they found here reminded them of the rocks in their homeland in southern Italy, and they named it after this tufa rock. But how does this tufa spring actually form? No moss, no honey. For tufa springs to form, certain ingredients are needed. And these are ideally present in Lingenau. The majority of the municipality lies on a glacial moraine or post-glacial gravel plains. These areas are very permeable to water, and the rock is largely calcareous. When the calcareous water reaches the surface and flows over moss carpets, algal mats, or colonies of cyanobacteria, a larger quantity of lime is deposited because these organisms extract carbon dioxide from the water for photosynthesis, causing the lime to precipitate. The lime adheres to branches, stones, small trees, and so on, forming upward-growing structures or terraces in stream banks. Under favorable conditions, lime sediments can accumulate by up to 20 mm per year. Within a few centuries, structures several meters high can form. For a long time, tufa was also used as a building material. It was lightweight, stable, provided good insulation, and was fire-resistant. An example can still be found today in the foundations of the chapel in Lingenau. Source: https://www.vorarlberg.travel/aktivitaet/quelltuff-lingenau-bregenzerwald/

In the course of the last great ice age and the course of the Bolgenach, the deepening in the special geological formations of the Engenloch Gorge, which mainly consists of Nagelfluh conglomerate, has arisen over the course of thousands of years. For a long time there was a large lake to the east and north-east of the Engenloch gorge due to the water from the melting of the glaciers, the water of which made its way through the Engenloch gorge and formed it. Source: https://regiowiki.at/wiki/Engenlochschlucht_(Hittisau)