Wulfbachquellhöhle
The Wulfbachquellhöhle is an active water cave near Mühlheim an der Donau and, with 6699 metres surveyed (March 2025), the second-longest cave of the Swabian Alb after the Blauhöhlensystem.
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Wulfbachquellhöhle
The Wulfbachquellhöhle is an active water cave near Mühlheim an der Donau and, with 6699 metres surveyed (March 2025), the second-longest cave of the Swabian Alb after the Blauhöhlensystem.
Mühlheim an der Donau
Length: 6699 m
Updated record
https://espeleoworld.com/en/c/wulfbachquellhoehle-muehlheim-an-der-donau
Information can change. Always verify coordinates, access, weather, and cave conditions before setting out.
The Wulfbachquellhöhle is an active water cave near Mühlheim an der Donau and, with 6699 metres surveyed (March 2025), the second-longest cave of the Swabian Alb after the Blauhöhlensystem.
Photos
© Freak-Line-Community · CC BY-SA 3.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ · Wikimedia Commons · https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wulfbachquellh%C3%B6hle.JPG
Description
Morphology
The Wulfbachquellhöhle is an active water cave. With 6699 metres surveyed (March 2025), it is the second-longest cave of the Swabian Alb after the Blauhöhlensystem.
Progression
In 1957 the cave researchers Walter Eisele and Friedrich Bänisch investigated the spring outlet and began digging the following year. In 1959 they started the first dive attempts and were able to penetrate 20 metres deep. In 1961/62 Jochen Hasenmayer explored the cave for 350 metres up to the “Mühlheimer Halle”. Between 1984 and 1986 Axel Gnädiger succeeded in overcoming a narrow passage and exploring the cave up to the “Gnädinger-Versturz” at 1160 metres. In May 1995 Rainer Straub and Andreas Kücha achieved the breakthrough and the ascent into the “Heuberghalle”. By August 1997 more than six kilometres of passages had been documented.
Other details
Since 1991 the cave has been explored by the Höhlenforschungsgruppe Ostalb-Kirchheim (HFGOK). In 1991 members of the Höhlenforschungsgruppe Kirchheim began to take on the cave as a research object. In 2000, after a fatal accident, the city of Mühlheim banned diving in the Wulfbachquellhöhle by issuing a police ordinance. An exemption permit is only possible in consultation with the HFGOK.
History
The cave was first mentioned in writing in 1879 in the Oberamtsbeschreibung. A “mighty spring in a rock grotto” is mentioned. The Nürtingen geology professor Karl Löffler first recognised a cave behind the spring outlet in 1915.
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Source: Geotopkataster Baden-Württemberg (Regierungspräsidium Freiburg – LGRB) (services.lgrb-bw.de), modified. Data licence Germany – attribution – version 2.0 (dl-de/by-2-0), https://www.govdata.de/dl-de/by-2-0 Datenquelle: Regierungspräsidium Freiburg - LGRB, www.lgrb-bw.de · data as of 2026 · Contains information from Grottocenter (Wikicaves), grottocenter.org, made available under the Open Database License (ODbL 1.0, https://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1-0/), modified. · length · obtained 2026-11-13 · https://grottocenter.org/ui/entrances/20266 · data as of 2026 · Source: Grottocenter (Association Wikicaves), worldwide collaborative cave database (grottocenter.org), modified. CC BY-SA 3.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ Grottocenter (Wikicaves) · Text by ABC · adapted by Espeleoworld (normalized, translated); the adaptation is licensed CC BY-SA 3.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ · history · obtained 2026-11-13 · https://grottocenter.org/ui/entrances/20266 · 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 (Wulfbachquellhöhle) · 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/Wulfbachquellh%C3%B6hle · data as of 2026 · The derived data is available on request under the ODbL: [email protected]