The cave was first mentioned in the records in 1541.[citation needed] In 1686, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz visited the cave and wrote a report about it mentioning the local trade with unicorn artefacts. In those days, fossilized bones supposed to be from unicorns were ground and used for making medicine. In the 17th century, Otto von Guericke, the mayor of Magdeburg, wrote a newspaper article about the finding of some ancient animal bones in the Zeunickenberg, a Harz mountain near Quedlinburg. Based on Guericke’s writings, Leibniz drew a fictional reconstruction of the unicorn's skeleton using the bones that had been found in the cave and published the drawing in his book Protogaea.
In 1872, Rudolf Virchow carried out an excavation there and determined that the unknown bones actually stem from extinct animals like mammoths and cave bears. Over 70 species of animal have been identified from the many bones that have been found, including 60 species of mammal; amongst them the cave lion and the wolf.
In 1905, the Unicorn Cave was made accessible to visitors by the construction of an entrance gallery. Since then, 270 metres (890 ft) of the total length of 610 metres (2,000 ft) have been opened up as a show cave. The Unicorn Cave is one of the three information centres of the Harz – Brunswick Land – Eastphalia National Geopark.
The Unicorn Cave has a checkpoint (no. 101) which is part of the Harzer Wandernadel network of hiking trails.
In 2021, the Giant deer bone of Einhornhöhle was found in the cave, the oldest piece of European art ever discovered, and attributed to Neanderthals.[3]
Folkloreedit
According to local folklore, an old and mystical woman lived in a cave in the nearby village of Scharzfeld. As she was a heathen, she was forced to flee from a group of Frankish warriors, led by a monk in a black habit. A Unicorn is said to have appeared and protected her from the pursuers, allowing her to escape and join the witches community on the Brocken Mountain. The Unicorn then chased away the warriors and black monk, causing him to disappear into a deep hole while running. This hole then led to the Unicorn Cave. The woman's former home would later become a rock church.[citation needed]
unicorn, cave, einhornhöhle, redirects, here, austrian, cave, austria, german, einhornhöhle, largest, show, cave, west, harz, about, kilometres, northwest, scharzfeld, borough, herzberg, harz, central, germany, karst, cave, developed, dolomite, strata, that, p. Einhornhohle redirects here For the Austrian cave see Unicorn Cave Austria The Unicorn Cave German Einhornhohle is the largest show cave in the West Harz 1 about 1 5 kilometres 0 9 mi northwest of Scharzfeld in the borough of Herzberg am Harz in central Germany 2 It is a karst cave developed in dolomite strata that is part of the Zechstein Natural entrance to the Unicorn CavePublic entrance to the Unicorn Cave Contents 1 History 2 Folklore 3 See also 4 References 5 Sources 6 External linksHistory edit nbsp A reconstruction of a skeleton at Osnabruck ZooThe cave was first mentioned in the records in 1541 citation needed In 1686 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz visited the cave and wrote a report about it mentioning the local trade with unicorn artefacts In those days fossilized bones supposed to be from unicorns were ground and used for making medicine In the 17th century Otto von Guericke the mayor of Magdeburg wrote a newspaper article about the finding of some ancient animal bones in the Zeunickenberg a Harz mountain near Quedlinburg Based on Guericke s writings Leibniz drew a fictional reconstruction of the unicorn s skeleton using the bones that had been found in the cave and published the drawing in his book Protogaea In 1872 Rudolf Virchow carried out an excavation there and determined that the unknown bones actually stem from extinct animals like mammoths and cave bears Over 70 species of animal have been identified from the many bones that have been found including 60 species of mammal amongst them the cave lion and the wolf In 1905 the Unicorn Cave was made accessible to visitors by the construction of an entrance gallery Since then 270 metres 890 ft of the total length of 610 metres 2 000 ft have been opened up as a show cave The Unicorn Cave is one of the three information centres of the Harz Brunswick Land Eastphalia National Geopark The Unicorn Cave has a checkpoint no 101 which is part of the Harzer Wandernadel network of hiking trails In 2021 the Giant deer bone of Einhornhohle was found in the cave the oldest piece of European art ever discovered and attributed to Neanderthals 3 Folklore editAccording to local folklore an old and mystical woman lived in a cave in the nearby village of Scharzfeld As she was a heathen she was forced to flee from a group of Frankish warriors led by a monk in a black habit A Unicorn is said to have appeared and protected her from the pursuers allowing her to escape and join the witches community on the Brocken Mountain The Unicorn then chased away the warriors and black monk causing him to disappear into a deep hole while running This hole then led to the Unicorn Cave The woman s former home would later become a rock church citation needed See also edit nbsp Harz portalList of show caves in GermanyReferences edit Unicorn Cave at www einhornhoehle de Accessed on 10 May 2011 Einhornshohle at www einhornhoehle de click on the Die Hohle tab Accessed on 10 May 2011 Leder Dirk Hermann Raphael Huls Matthias Russo Gabriele Hoelzmann Philipp Nielbock Ralf Bohner Utz Lehmann Jens Meier Michael Schwalb Antje Troller Reimer Andrea Koddenberg Tim Terberger Thomas September 2021 A 51 000 year old engraved bone reveals Neanderthals capacity for symbolic behaviour Nature Ecology amp Evolution 5 9 1273 1282 doi 10 1038 s41559 021 01487 z ISSN 2397 334X PMID 34226702 S2CID 235746596 Sources editErnst Andreas Friedrich Naturdenkmale Niedersachsens Hannover 1980 ISBN 3 7842 0227 6External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Einhornhohle Harz Unicorn Cave English home page in English Unicorn Cave at www showcaves com in English Unicorn Cave German home page in German Ralf Nielbock The Unicorn Cave near Scharzfeld Harz pdf 191 kB in German Description of the cave in German 51 38 06 N 10 24 15 E 51 63501 N 10 40403 E 51 63501 10 40403 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Unicorn Cave amp oldid 1183849222, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
