Thomas Striebel: The "Devil's Hole" [Teufelsloch] near Oberwaiz and its Sandstone Caves

The paper describes 15 caves, developed in sandstones of the Rhaetolias-Formation (Upper Triassic - Lower Jurassic sandstones) in the so-called "Devil's Hole" [Teufelsloch], 10 km to the W of Bayreuth. A small creek has intensively eroded a steep gorge. Subrecent and recent rock-slides and steps have enabled the development of caves of different genesis, morphology and extension. The most important genetic types can be classified as the combined type of the 'boulder fragment cave' ('erosion boulder cave'), the type of the 'gorge bottom cave" and the type of the 'rock-slide fissure cave'. Flowing or stagnant water is an important factor for the development of the most important caves. The longest cave, Große Teufelslochbachhöhle [Great Devil's Hole Creek Cave] is a combination of gorge bottom and boulder fragment cave with a total length of 260 m.