The six caves in the Ach and Lone Valley of the Swabian Alb are where the world’s oldest mobile works of art were found and a unique example of human history. The works of art and musical instruments found show the impressive craftsmanship that the first modern humans were capable of and demonstrate the importance of art 40,000 years ago. Found objects are over 50 figures made of ivory or bone as well as eight flutes. Most of the works of art show the fauna of the Ice Age tundra (mammoth, bison, horse, cave lion, cave bear), but there are also depictions of people and hybrid creatures.
Caves and Ice Age Art in the Swabian Jura: Facts
| Official title: | Caves and ice age art in the Swabian Jura |
| Cultural monument: | Cave sites in the Achtal, 15 km west of Ulm, are Geißenklösterle (Blaubeuren): animal figures of cave bears, bison and mammoths as well as a bas-relief with a representation of people made of ivory were found, as well as two flutes made of swan bones;Hohle Fels (near Schelkingen): Human representation »Venus from Hohle Fels« and musical instrument »Vulture Flute« (both 40,000 years old); Sirgenstein(Blaubeuren): Settlement layers from the Middle and Younger Paleolithic; also next to the cave Balme (niche-like cave under a rock overhang) with cultural remains of the (Neolithic and Late Stone Age) Magdalenian. Vogelherd caves are cave sites in the Lone Valley, about 20 km northeast of Ulm(Stetten ob Lontal): animal statuettes from the Aurignacia; Hohlensteinstadel (Asselfingen): site of the “lion man”, one of the most important works of art of the Upper Palaeolithic Aurignacia found; 28.1 cm tall ivory figure with an animal head and human posture (35,000–30,000 years old); Bockstein Cave (between Öllingen and Bissingen): the oldest Neanderthal settlement complex in southern Germany; see more on businesscarriers |
| Continent: | Europe |
| Country: | Germany |
| Location: | Swabian Jura |
| Appointment: | 2017 |
| Meaning: | unique ensemble for the historical development of the arts as well as for scientific research of the Upper Paleolithic |
Pfalzgrafenstein Castle was built by the German King Ludwig IV the Bavarian (* 1282, † 1347) on a small rocky island near the town of Kaub. In 1327 the six-storey pentagonal tower was built first; thanks to this, no ship could from then on pass Pfalzgrafenstein unseen. Together with Gutenfels Castle and the city fortifications of Kaub and Bacharach as well as Stahleck Castle, the Pfalzgrafenstein formed a mighty fortification that constituted an important power factor on the Rhine. A few years later the curtain wall was added with a covered battlement. Its appearance of a “stone ship” – this is how Victor Hugo (* 1802, † 1885) described the castle in a diary entry – it only got its appearance at the beginning of the 17th century, when a massive point was built on the side upstream of the Rhine and reinforced with iron clips. This construction should counteract the permanent damage caused by floating ice. In the years that followed, a gun platform, wing bay windows and, in 1714, a baroque spire were added.
The Middle Rhine Valley is not only steeped in history, but also shrouded in legend. The blond beauty Loreley is inseparably interwoven with the rock in the narrow valley of the Rhine, which is described in the poem by Heinrich Heine (* 1797, † 1856) “I don’t know what it should mean ” and the setting by Friedrich Silcher (* 1789, † 1860 ) became a common good. The legend of the Binger Mouse Tower, into which the Archbishop of Mainz Hatto II († 970) is said to have fled after a gruesome murder, is gruesome. It came to an inglorious end there, because it is said to have been eaten by thousands of mice.
In its present form, the Fagus factory was built in three construction phases between 1911 and 1925. With »new constructive means«, according to Gropius, the »illusion of floating lightness« was to be achieved. This was implemented primarily on the main building, the elegance of which gets by without any representative pomp. On the three floors of the cubic structure, ceiling-high window areas each consist of four by four, i.e. a total of 16 rectangles, the steel frames of which are attached to the supporting pillars in a skeleton construction – the first curtain wall in Europe. Only the entrance, base and cover of the building as well as the vertical pillars are clad with yellow clinker bricks. Together with the horizontal steel cladding that replaces the glass panes between the floors, the vertical supports create a grid facade, as it became typical for the international style in the following decades. The transparent lightness is supported by the slope of the pillars, which optically step behind the windows with this trick so that the facade appears fully glazed. The most distinctive and innovative element, however, are the glass corners, which “dissolve” for the viewer and make the building truly “float”. For structural reasons, an elaborate construction with diagonally crossing girders was required for the column-free corner windows. It later became a trademark of the »New Building«. which optically step behind the window through this trick in such a way that the facade appears fully glazed. The most distinctive and innovative element, however, are the glass corners, which “dissolve” for the viewer and make the building truly “float”. For structural reasons, an elaborate construction with diagonally crossing girders was required for the column-free corner windows. It later became a trademark of the »New Building«. which optically step behind the window through this trick in such a way that the facade appears fully glazed. The most distinctive and innovative element, however, are the glass corners, which “dissolve” for the viewer and make the building truly “float”. For structural reasons, an elaborate construction with diagonally crossing girders was required for the column-free corner windows. It later became a trademark of the »New Building«.
