Are you in the mood to search for unicorns? Then the Einhornhöhle near Scharzfeld might be the perfect destination for you. Researchers have come here for a very long time as the 700 meters long cave is filled to large extent with sediment that contains the bones of extinct animals like mammoths, cave bears and cave lions. In 1672 the physicist Otto von Guericke reported that he had found a unicorn there which motivated the famous mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz to get there and to construct a unicorn from bones. It were in facht mammoth bones, but his reconstruction is now the logo of the cave and the name ‘unicorn cave‘ attracts a lot of visitors.
Inscriptions on the walls show that this is already the case since hundrets of years, the oldest writing (typically consisting of name, city of origin and date) is from the 14th century. For two personalities there are metal plaques: Ernest Augustus, the Crown Prince of Hanover visited the cave in 1860 and Friedrich Schiller explored the underground with a torch as well. A lot of visitors, but not too much to see: the Einhornhöhle is no flowstone cave with massive stalagmites or stalactites; the most impressive element is the entrance with stone steps in the blue grotto through an opening on top of the cave.
Today a private organization enables you to visit the cave on guided tours. You can reserve tickets in advance or if your feeling lucky you can just get to the cave and buy the ticket at the small eatery in front. The tour lasts around 45 minutes and as the cave is 7 degrees Celsius cold you should dress appropriately even on hot summer days. You will be entering the cave from the back through a narrow miners tunnel and it ends at the blue grotto. How to get there? At Scharzfeld (belonging to Herzberg am Harz) you need to follow the street Im Rott out of the village and into the forest. The street ends at a parking area and from there it is a convenient 450 meters walk to the cave entrance.
Einhornhöhle
Im Rott
Herzberg am Harz
Germany
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