Wildkirchli


Wildkirchli are three interlinked caves situated in the Alpstein massif in the Appenzell Innerrhoden canton of Switzerland, north-east of Mount Säntis Switzerland. The caves are located at a height of. They are notable for the traces of Paleolithic Neanderthal habitation, dating to c. 40,000 BP, and cave bear bones dating to 90,000–40,000 BP. A museum at the site houses a full bear skeleton that was found in one of the caves.

Geography

There are three caves, the Altarhöhle, the Untere Höhle, and the Obere Höhle, located on the Ebenalp, which is the northernmost summit of the Appenzell Alps. They sit at a height of, and are reached by cable car from Wasserauen to the top of Edenalp, followed by a 15-minute hike down the mountain.

History of the caves

The earliest-known documentation of the cave was a visit by a cave explorers' club, the Höhlenklub of Appenzell, in 1863. In 1658, Paulus Ulmann, a priest in Appenzell, founded a chapel in the lower cave and established a hermitage in the upper cave. A series of hermits inhabited the site, and provided food and lodging to pilgrims who visited the chapel. The last hermit died in 1851, and the hermitage was eventually transformed into an inn. A small museum which is a recreation of the hermits' house was built on the site of the old inn.
The cave chapel and pilgrimage were the subject of one chapter of Joseph Victor von Scheffel's, Volume II.

Archaeological finds in the caves

Many bones have been found in the caves; the hermits sold them to pilgrims. In 1903–1908, Emil Bächler discovered flint tools in the Altarhöhle. Their identification as Mousterian was the first demonstration of Neanderthal man in the Appenzell Alps. Later excavations revealed three stratigraphic layers in the Altarhöhle. The lowest layer contained primarily cave bear bones. The upper layer contained the flint tools and was dated to the final phase of the Mousterian. The layer also contained bones from animals such as chamois, ibexes and wolves, suggesting that the caves served as summer hunting sites.
Today the caves have become a tourist destination. On the same path as the caves is the Berggasthaus Aescher, a 170-year-old guesthouse built into the cliff. The guesthouse was included as one of the four most interesting restaurants by the Huffington Post and it was featured on the cover of National Geographic's "Places of a Lifetime" publication.

Literature