Schillerhöhle

Schillerhöhle lies near Bad Urach-Wittlingen, on the northern slope of a mountain spur in the Swabian Alps. Its entrance stands about 1.2 kilometres west-northwest of Wittlingen, near the ruins of Hohenwittlingen. The opening measures two metres across and leads into a wild cave extending 245 metres, with a 30-metre height difference.

The cave formed about five million years ago, when water dissolved limestone and enlarged a fissure beneath the groundwater. Falling groundwater levels later left the passage dry, while floods removed clay and exposed areas covered by mineral deposits. Friedrich von Mandelsloh found brown bear and lynx bones and a human skull here during excavations in 1833. No evidence confirms Stone Age settlement, although the cave appears as Tulkahöhle in David Friedrich Weinland’s novel Rulaman.

The few remaining stalagmites stand blackened beside damaged wall deposits, while broken ceiling formations reveal earlier losses. As part of the UNESCO Global Geopark Swabian Alb, the natural monument preserves both geological history and traces of human curiosity. The former natural bridge above the entrance collapsed in May 2009, changing the approach to this dry underground passage.