Many Leica owners consider a trip to Wetzlar, the former and new Leica Mecca, a worthwhile undertaking. Less than 50 miles from Frankfurt, it is easy
to get to. The guided tours of the new Leica
plant at Leitz Park are very informative and offer a close look at how these cameras and
lenses are made. Another highlight of
visiting Leica is the Leica museum.
About 15 miles from Wetzlar is
Weilburg. A side trip to Weilburg is
definitely worth consideration. It is
the location of the topic of this post.
I recommend using a route that goes through Braunfels, only a bit more
than 2 miles from the former Leica headquarters in Solms. There you’ll
have the opportunity to visit Burg Braunfels (Braunfels Castle) which dates
back to 1246.
Burg Braunfels
A part of Weilburg is called Kubach,
place of the Kubacher Kristallhöhle (Kubach Crystal Cave). The Kristallhöhle is a relatively new
discovery. The story goes that in 1881
miners looking for phosphorite stumbled by chance on an underground cave full
of stalactites and stalagmites that was so big, apparently the local church was
said to have fitted in it. But since
this was not the mineral they were looking for, the entrance was filled in and
the cave’s location forgotten.
However, not only did the miners tell
other local people and even the press about the cave, they allegedly brought
some of the stalactites back to the surface that are now in a local museum.
Over the years the story was passed
on about the cave, until in 1973 holes were bored in the area that it was
believed to be located in. While those
boreholes did not find the cave being sought, it did find one with rare
crystals on the walls.
A container, small enough to fit the
borehole, had been equipped with a camera and flash to take photographs of the
newly discovered cave. That camera was a
Leica. It is now on display, hanging
from a line right below the borehole.
Container holding the Leica
In the years that followed a pathway
down to the cave was excavated and since 1981 visitors have been able to take
tours. At the deepest point
the floor of the cave is 78m (256 feet) below ground, and this part of the cave
is 30m (98.5 feet) high – the highest cave that is open to the public in
Germany.
The tour takes about 45 minutes and
afterwards visitors can also go in the museum above ground, which shows more
about how the cave was discovered but also about the mining that used to take
place in the area.
Main entrance with a number of large rocks from the mineral museum inside
Going down into the cave is an
exciting experience, but it is not possible for everyone. Warning signs at the entrance list a range of
medical conditions which are prohibitive to making the descent. These include anyone who has had a heart
attack, suffers from angina pectoris, or is taking nitrous-based medication. Sturdy shoes are also recommended for the 347
steps down to the cave’s entrance.
From personal experience, I know that
it is not so much going down into the cave, but coming up again. But I found it worthwhile, for the cave
itself and because it offers the opportunity to see a little known item of
Leica history.
The cave’s website is http://www.kubacherkristallhoehle.de
Was the camera in the container in a vertical position, and which model Leica was it?
ReplyDeleteThe camera was in a horizontal position. I am not certain which model Leica they used, but it was definitely a screw mount model, most likely a IIIf because they used flash for the exposures.
ReplyDelete