No saints in the cave this time - Tuesday July 6, 2010

No saints in the cave this time - Tuesday July 6, 20

We woke up to a very cloudy day here in Appenzell, Switzerland and in fact it was raining by the time we finished breakfast. We had decided if it was raining or too cloudy to go up to the Ebenalp we would wait for a good day. One of the items on our travel plans was to visit "Tauferhohle" near the town of Baretswil where early Mennonite and Anabaptist converts met in this secret cave in order to practice their religious faith. From previous travelers to the cave, they had left the exact co-ordinates for its location. Directions from Rapperswil head to Bauma turn left at town centre, continue through Neuthal to Baretswil, turn left at the Restaurant Freidhof then continue up the mountain to the righ turn at the yellow arrow sign marked Tauferhohle. We left about 9:30 a.m. and set the GPS for the co-ordinates. Close to the town of Baretswil, the GPS told us we had arrived but we were at a loss to find the cave. High up on a mountain road we stopped and asked about the Tauferhohle. he smiled right away and understood what we were asking about - motioned and gestured 2nd road turn right then first road left then we would find a parkplatz. We saw the sign pointing left off the road but no parkplatz so we drove on a bit and found a place to park the car. The little sign marked Tauferhohle said 40 m and looked quite up hill so jean decided to stay at the car while I went up to find the cave. The path off the road was a narrow foot path that wound around a farmers fenceline where I had to open 2 fence wires and close them behind me to keep the cows in. It then opened onto a road way and after about 1 km uphill it ended just inside the woods at a small parking place with a large information sign with a map explaining the exact location. There was just one sign back at the start of the trail but from the information there were 5 trails leading away up into them there hills. I took the one most traveled and climbed steadily uphill. The path became very steep and very rough with many roots and rotten stumps to manoeuver around. After almost an hour I decided it was not the correct path so headed back down to the Information board and studied it again. Second try on another path ended at a dead end so back down again. A third path followed a creek and the map showed several creek so thought it must be the right one. It went back down toward the car so after 2 hours of searching, I gave up and went for the car. Having discovered the Information Board and the fact that I could drive directly to it, I decided to get jean's opinion so we drove up there again in the car. We tried a few side paths from the main ones but no cave. One path behind our backs as we stood looking at the board, led up past an old barn and into a small field - so with Jean's blessing I headed up that path. About 1/2 km at the other end of the field there was a gate into the woods and a path leading off to the right. After following that path for a few minutes, there it was, a wide cave about 100 ft wide and high enough to stand up in the front. Someone has made some crude benches to sit on and railings to guide your steps up and back down. It would hold 200 people probably and a beautiful view looking out. It is easy to see how it would provide a secret location in which to worship.
Names on sign and businesses nearby were familiar - Huber, Widmer, Weber, Oberholster, Ruegg, Giger, Hess, Klinks, Egger.
Having finally located the Tauferhohle I headed back down to the car and we headed home to Appenzell. Names on sign and businesses nearby were familiar - Huber, Widmer, Weber, Oberholster, Ruegg, Giger, Hess, Klinks, Egger.