Hickelhöhle

The Hickelhöhle is a very wide bedding-joint cave formed as a half-cave in the Thorwalder Wände.

Sebnitz

The Hickelhöhle is a very wide bedding-joint cave formed as a half-cave in the Thorwalder Wände.

Characteristics

• Type: Cave
• Municipality: Sebnitz
• 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 Hickelhöhle is located in the Thorwalder Wände, above the Großer Zschand south of the Zeughaus, on the territory of the Sebnitz district of Ottendorf.

Map

Entrances

Always verify coordinates and access conditions before setting out.

1. Hickelhöhle

   50.892658, 14.315738
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Photos

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© I would appreciate being notified if you use my work outside Wikimedia. More of my work can be found in my personal gallery. · CC BY-SA 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ · Wikimedia Commons · https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hickelh%C3%B6hle,_jeskyn%C4%9B.jpg

© Lukas Beck · CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ · Wikimedia Commons · https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nationalpark_S%C3%A4chsische_Schweiz_Hickelh%C3%B6hle_lub_2024-07-22.jpg

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

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Description

Morphology

With a depth of 12 to 14 m and a width of 45 m, the Hickelhöhle is a very wide bedding-joint cave formed as a half-cave. The large-banked structure of the sandstone in the area of the Thorwalder Wände contributed to the size of the cave.

Above the Hickelhöhle is the Hickelkopf, a climbing rock that overhangs on almost all sides and stands on only three small base feet.

Hydrology

These bedding-joint caves, which are typical of the Sächsische Schweiz, are formed by precipitation water seeping in from above at water-impermeable interlayers, the so-called bedding joints. These date back to the layered deposition of clayey components during the sand deposits in the Cretaceous sea.

Other details

The Hickelhöhle is the second-largest cave of the Sächsische Schweiz and a popular destination for hikers. Together with the Kuhstall, it is one of the best-known caves of the Sächsische Schweiz.

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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/251873253 · data as of 2026 · Source: Wikidata – cave items (Germany) (www.wikidata.org), modified. CC0 1.0, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ Wikidata (CC0 1.0) · 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 (Hickelhöhle) · 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/Hickelh%C3%B6hle · data as of 2026 · The derived data is available on request under the ODbL: [email protected]