Top 15 Caves around Großschönau

Great rock formation; With due attention, you can climb well and conquer the rocks and surroundings.

Looking up, we already see the Gratzer rocks, in this section the trees around us have died. We look back, far into the distance. We reach the rock formation, we are now standing between the freestanding sandstone rocks, with boulders in between, as if someone had dropped them here. If we don't deny ourselves a little climb on them, we feel like we are in an adventure land. The rock formation is permeated with small caves everywhere. A fantastic landscape, we walk between the rocks, through the autumnal forest surrounded by moss and ferns, the sandstone now sounds dull, almost hollow under our feet. https://youtu.be/N2GgTh6HEzQ

The White Stone marks a regional geological feature. Here, a rock formation consisting of a quartz vein emerges, striking for its atypical white color. This formation is also known as the Karasek Cave, named after the robber captain Johannes Karasek. This is said to have been the meeting place of the gang before and after several raids. While the robber captain actually existed, legend has it that his treasure, which has not yet been found, is hidden at this location. The story of the robber captain and information on the geology can be found in the Karasek Museum in Seifhennersdorf. Coming from Großschönau, it's worth taking a detour about 300 meters from the road and then continuing on to the Karasek Museum.

The White Stone is a rock formation up to six meters high in the Hofebusch forest near Spitzkunnersdorf in Upper Lusatia. Erosion also created the so-called Karasek Cave in this rock.

point for the hiking pin Oberlausitzer Bergweg

HOLLOW STONE A unique geological monument consisting of small, fine sandstone columns, the so-called "fans". This geological structure seems rather unusual, because the much more famous Panska-skála (Manor House Rock) near Kamenický Senov (Steinschönau) is made of basalt. In the southern part of the village, narrow steps have been carved out, leading to the highest platform on the summit. On top of this there is a rock bench called Karolinin odpocinek (Karolinenruh), which was carved in 1913-1914 by members of the mining association for the northernmost Czech Republic. On this staircase, a relief of the head of the poet Theodor Körner (1791-1813) was carved into the sandstone by two amateur artists from Zwickau. In his short life, Körner wrote a single collection called Lyra a mec (The Lyre and the Sword), and these are the very motifs that can be seen on the wreath that surrounds the bust of the poet. He was killed in the Napoleonic Wars at the age of 22. In the nearby town of Zittau, you can still find some memorabilia of the romantic. In 1913, the top platform of the natural monument was converted into a viewing platform and decorated with a viewing rosette and a sundial (now destroyed). Near the lookout there is an excavated cave called Sustrova díra (Shoemaker's Hole). The name comes from one of the builders of a nearby and now closed railway line. Thanks to the rock relief, the hollow stone was added to the national list of cultural monuments. It offers a wonderful view of the hills Ortel. (Judgment Hill), Klic (Key) and Zelený vrch (Green Hill) with a renewed view, the so-called "Svýcárna" (Swiss House) above the village of Drnovec.

The Dutý kámen (Hohlstein, 379 m) is an approximately 600 m long forest-covered ridge that projects about 0.5 km from Drnovec (Kleingrün) on the road from Cvikov (Zwickau i. B.) to Kunratice (Kunnersdorf) in a southerly direction . Very nice views.

The cave has been known to locals for several centuries as the ice hole. Around 1870, the Zwickau mining association built the first access route to the cave and began marketing it for tourism. The descent to the cave floor, 6 meters below, was initially done via a carved tree trunk; later a ladder was installed. Around 1900 the entrance to the cave was barred, and for a fee you could get the key from a nearby mill. On busy weekends, a kiosk at the entrance sold refreshments. After 1945, the cave was freely accessible and was often damaged by ice formations breaking off and campfires. In 1966 the cave was declared a protected natural monument because of its unusual character, but it was not until 1988 that the cave entrance was closed again and the destruction stopped. Until 1995, access to the cave was permitted after approval by the administration of the Lusatian Mountains landscape protection area; since then, viewing has no longer been permitted due to the risk of collapse.