Fantasy with Glacier Mill: Krai Woog Gumpen

 

At the level of the Schwarzenbach waterfall in the southern Black Forest, basins appear which geologists call Strudellöcher or Glacier Mills.

 

The term Krai-Woog-Gumpen stands for "sound-tousling waterfall" and comes from the Alemannic vocabulary. It was not until 1955 that large rock hollows were found under the forest floor directly next to the said waterfall near Görwihl-Strittmatt (in the district of Waldshut), which are spontaneously called Strudellöcher. The Schwarzenbach falls there at a height of about 4 metres over a threshold of Albtal granite - at the same height as the holes discovered not so long ago.

 

An extremely idyllic place in the Black Forest whose atmosphere exudes a very great sense of tranquillity. Amidst the high rock to the left of the waterfall are the two basins.

 

The curious thing about this is the explanation of science, which has an exciting theory for these holes, which I would rather call basins: thus, during the recession of the Ice Age, harder rock fragments are said to have got into smaller rock hollows (which for once were not as hard as the penetrating rock) and to have been set in rotation by flowing water as well as the hollow obstacle, in order to form these hollow shapes out of the hard rock over time. This is why the term "strudelloch" is used, because it is assumed that the penetrating rock, like a millstone, formed the round(er) shapes that we find here. And presumably over an unimaginably long period of time.

 

 

The large basin has two hollows that have been carefully carved out of the rock.

 

In total, there is a deeper larger basin and a shallower second basin with a threshold. The walls have been carved out to different heights.

 

 

There are grooves on the sides which, in my view, were not made uncontrollably by dragging rocks over them. Of course, one can be divided about this.

 

 

Problem: The boundaries of the basins (i.e. their edges) are very different in height and the basins are anything but circular, so that a rock or even a rock sphere could have had an even effect there. Moreover, this enormous rock that is supposed to have achieved this is missing in each case. For me, this is completely fantastic and, of course, anything but provable. But when geologists come up with imaginative theories, one should really sink to one's knees in awe. Because of this daring coincidence theory in an environment brimming with human influences, this place is also called Glacier Mill. A designation against the backdrop of one or more "millstones" that are not only nowhere to be found, but also leave numerous questions unanswered as possible causes of these bulges.

 

Inlet channel on the opposite side of the bank - presumably into another basin created there.

 

 

 

At the double basin (left side waterfall): Perhaps overflow channels have been incorporated here to ensure controlled drainage at high levels?

 

To the side of the double basin: Perhaps a deliberately designed drainage channel for the overflow of the large basin? The botanical remains in it have to be thought away.

 

 

On the back of the waterfall you can also see an indentation (especially on the left side), which probably invites you to stand behind it in summer (and maybe even stay dry).

 

 

 

In front of the indentation also a protrusion that almost looks like a decoration.

 

 

For me personally, the hollows are by no means natural occurrences, but the result of intelligent and possibly persistent work on the edge of an idyllic waterfall that our ancestors had deliberately used. In fact, I believe that the majority of this site is man-made. There are indentations, geometric shapes and human influences everywhere in the shaping of various rocks, as I would like to show in detail with the help of the illustrations. But geological wonders are easier to propagate than archaeologically demanding research, for which presumably neither the will nor the corresponding means are there.

 

View over the edge of the main double pool

 

 

In places we find worked rocks that lack all criteria of natural shaping. Here is a particularly geometrically unusual specimen.

 

 

Another rocky outcrop in the course of the stream: This is undoubtedly also the result of human influence.

 

 

 

Further gullies or edges that are not of natural origin (at least the edge in the right front area).

 

 

Here an interesting triangular indentation in one of the adjacent rocks.

 

 

 

The accumulation of rock slabs at the side of the Schwarzenbach in this section of the riverbank is particularly striking. As if after a demolition or on a construction site. In the background, the raised basin near the waterfall.

 

 

Further downstream, the stream becomes somewhat "calmer" with the rock accumulation in the bank area.