Backofenloch

The Großer Wartberg is a prominent, 567.7 m high, fully wooded mountain in the east of the town of Ruhla in the Wartburgkreis in Thuringia.

Ruhla

The Großer Wartberg is a prominent, 567.7 m high, fully wooded mountain in the east of the town of Ruhla in the Wartburgkreis in Thuringia.

Characteristics

• Type: Cave
• Municipality: Ruhla
• Record updated: November 13, 2026

Caves are protected biotopes (§30 BNatSchG). Caves used by bats as winter quarters must not be entered from 1 October to 31 March (§39(6) BNatSchG), except show caves and their developed parts.

Location

The Großer Wartberg is located in the east of the town of Ruhla in the Wartburgkreis in Thuringia, immediately south of the municipality of Seebach. At the foot of the mountain ran the former state border between the Duchy of Saxe-Gotha and the village of Seebach, which belonged to the Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.

Map

Entrances

Always verify coordinates and access conditions before setting out.

1. Backofenloch

   Elevation: 523 m

   50.903550, 10.426460
   Open in map Open in Google Maps

Download all entrances as GPX

Photos

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© EACC80 · CC BY 3.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ · Wikimedia Commons · https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:GeoRoute9_Ruhlaer_Insel_Station10.jpg

© EACC80 · CC BY 3.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ · Wikimedia Commons · https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Backofenloch_Pic1.JPG

© EACC80 · CC BY 3.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ · Wikimedia Commons · https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Backofenloch_Pic2.JPG

© EACC80 · CC BY 3.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ · Wikimedia Commons · https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Backofenloch_Pic6.JPG

© EACC80 · CC BY 3.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ · Wikimedia Commons · https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Backofenloch_Pic4.JPG

© EACC80 · CC BY 3.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ · Wikimedia Commons · https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Backofenloch_Pic3.JPG

Image 1 of 6

Description

Morphology

The Großer Wartberg is a prominent, 567.7 m high mountain. The secondary summit Kleiner Wartberg (553.6 m) is located west of the main summit and can be recognized as a cone-shaped knoll; on the western flank, the viewpoint "Dicelstein" can be climbed on a rock.

Other details

Near the summit, on the northern slope of the Großer Wartberg, there is a cave that is associated with the presence of the Venetians; it is known as Backofenloch.

History

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Wartberg was also written as "Martberg" – probably due to a typographical error in various maps.

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12 photos

Contains information from © OpenStreetMap contributors, www.openstreetmap.org, made available under the Open Database License (ODbL 1.0, https://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1-0/), modified. · https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/1122507215 · data as of 2026 · Source: German Wikipedia – article leads (cave descriptions) (de.wikipedia.org), modified. CC BY-SA 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Wikipedia contributors (de.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0 · Text by Wikipedia contributors (Großer Wartberg (Ruhla)) · adapted by Espeleoworld (normalized, translated); the adaptation is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ · description · obtained 2026-11-13 · https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gro%C3%9Fer_Wartberg_(Ruhla) · data as of 2026 · The derived data is available on request under the ODbL: [email protected]