The cave

Heahr-Everl-Klause

A thieving, lying woman who was called “s’Heahr-Everl” once lived in a cave in Mühlholz near Altenhof. She specialized in stealing chickens and also confessed to the caretaker of Marsbach that the number of chickens she had stolen was so big that a string stretched from Linz to Marsbach would hardly be enough to hang all the chickens on it if each hen stuck its beak into the other’s back. On the southern slope of the Hutstein, heavy, piled-up boulders form a spacious natural cave, the entrance of which is already half-buried so that it can only be reached by crawling. Inside there is a table and a bench made of natural stone. This cave is popularly called “Heahr-Everl-Klause” and, according to tradition, is also said to have served as a shelter for Heahr-Everl. There was also a large rock near Unteraschenberg that contained a small cave. However, this rock no longer exists because it more recently blown up and used as building material.
Heahr-Everl is said to have paid for her thefts on the gallows.

the cave Heahr-Everl-Klause

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From: State Association for Speleology in Upper Austria, Austria

Catalog # 6841/4
Sealevel : about 745 m
GL. : about 10 m
ND. : approx. -0. 5 / + 2.5 m
HE .: approx. 10 m

Location: NW 335 ° 450 m as the crow flies from Kote 645 (on the road from Putzleinsdorf to Oberkappel, about 1.5 km east of the latter town).

BR Rohrbach, Ger. Bez. Lembach, Local parish Pfarrkirchen, KG Weberschlag.

Access: From Oberkappel approx. 4 km in the direction of Putzleinsdorf, where approx. 1 km after Grettenbach at Kote 645 a serpentine road leads up to the southern edge of the forest of the Grettenberg; It is driven on for about 300 m and then on foot on tractor paths the steep forest slope, in the old common straight ahead (NNW}, ascended. Higher up a striking, overhanging giant block appears on the left side of the path. From it right in the direction of NNW 332 ° to clearly visible granite blocks that rise up to the ridge height, which is only 30 m higher. The unobtrusive entrance is about 50 m away from the “round” distinctive stone, on the back of the blocks mentioned. 10-15 min ~ from Edge of the forest.

official type of cave: a cover cave –  Überdeckungshöhle

Room description: Pure cover cave with 6-7 narrow day openings, all of which meet in a single collapse area up to 2.5 m high and 3 m wide. This extends in the NS direction, normally only the northernmost opening is used as an entrance, but it can only be accessed by crawling. Sparse light falls through a hole in the ceiling into the main room of the cave, the total length of which can be given as 10 m. Plan: A sketch was made on the occasion of the inspection by E. Fritsch and E. Eichbauer on November 16, 1986.

Zoology: Lepidoptera (butterflies): Inachis io (peacock butterfly), over 10 observed, Scoliopteryx libatrix (cinnamon owl), Diptera – Nernatocera (mosquitoes): Mycetophilidae (mushroom mosquitoes), Culicidae (mosquitoes).

Legend: The cave was once inhabited by an old woman who made a living from begging and stealing chickens. When the farmers could no longer defend themselves, they sued the thief at the keeper of Marsbach. When put before the judge, she said the number of chickens she had stolen would add up to a distance from Linz to Marsbach. The thieving Heahr-Everl is said to have paid for her deeds on the gallows.

Comment: Around the turn of the century Sieß wrote: Even today, boys and girls with cards “Heahr-Everl”, the same card game as “Schinder Hans”, play in the Mühlviertel and on the other side of the Danube. The legendary cave of Winklers (1966) is said to have been in Unteraschenberg, NE of Neustift i.Mkr., And its “recently” blown up. (east of the Ranna). V. Ecker (1984) cites Leopold Sieß as the source, but publishes the legend v. Heahr-Everl again in another cave, namely in the one described here in Grettenberg. It is known to the surrounding population as Heahr-Everl-Klause, whether there is one with the same name in Mühlholz is currently unknown.

Literature:
Ecker, V. (1984): Natural monuments in the Upper Mühlviertel. Hister-Verlag, Niederranna, p.103.
Sieß, L. (1897/1905): Sagas from the upper Mühlviertel. 2. Ribbon
Winkler, F. (1966): Sagas from the Mühlviertel. Linz, Vol. II.

From the

Höhlenforschung in Oberösterreich | Landesverein für Höhlenkunde in Oberösterreich (hoehlenforschung.at)

Landesverein für Höhlenkunde in Oberösterreich, Austria; download unter – PDF Kostenfreier Download (docplayer.org)

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