Holed Stones in Austria

Holed Stones and Crawling Through Rituals in Austria

A few notes:

Wolfgangshöhle, Salzburg

Bucklwehlucke, Upper Austria

"The so-called Blasenstein, an enormous, almost round rock, which is also called Phallusstein, is supposed to be a pagan cult place. The old cult rock is situated near the church of St. Thomas. The stone block is divided by the famous cleft. It is said, that you should use the entrance to the east, when you want to practise the through-creeping rite. In the closest place the gap is so narrow that thick persons got stuck and had to be saved by the firebrigade. Some people believe that the stone has healing power. By the contact with the holy stone one expected health for body and soul. Thus it is called "Bucklwehstein", because it should particularly bring ease with pain of the back. Today the ritual meaning is lost to a large extent, and it is now widely considered just as a funny custom to squeeze through the gap." (Jantsch, Franz, Kultplätze in Upper Austria and Salzburg, Unterweitersdorf 1994)

Foto Adelung
Rochushöhle, Lower Austria

"In the south flank of the west back of the Dietrichhagriedels north of Grossreifling. Marked access path. Length 22 m, height 12 m. The cave can be entered through the artificially extended entrance in which a devotion place with an altar, dedicated to Saint Rochus, is built. A staircase leads to a small platform, from which one gets to the roomy, steeply rising rear part of the cave. At the west side of the entrance, near a rock column and somewhat more highly situated is another tight entrance, through which you can squeeze yourself. It is accessible from the outside by a wooden construction which leads to it. This place was used a "Durchschlupfstein". There is still a strong faith in the healing powers of this place which is confirmed by the many inscriptions of local people in the book at the entrance. (after Hartmann, H. and W., The Caves of Lower Austria, Volumne 3, Vienna 1985)

Pfennigsteinhöhle, Lower Austria

"In the so-called Matterhörndl, in former times Pfennigstein, an approx. 10 m high rock 50 m east of the forest road from Moedling to the Husarentemple. Length 3 m. Man-high passage connected with many legends. Usage as crawling-through place for healing of diseases, fertility cult. The rock is a nature reserve since 9 April 1941. (Hartmann, H. and W., The Caves of Lower Austria, Volumne 2, Vienna 1982, further references in Volumne 4, p. 414)

Holed Stone near Rauchenöd, Upper Austria

Klobenstein near Wössen/Tyrolia

3 km north of Kössen in Tyrol, quite close to the Bavarian boundary. The pilgrimage church Klobenstein is in the narrow ravine of the Tiroler Ache. That the pilgrimage takes place here is no coincidence, but on the closest attached to the presence of the "Klobensteins". An enormous rock fell down from the mountains up long ago and remained lying there, split in two pieces. Now you can pass through the narrow sections between the stones.

A legend of the origin of the nature phenomenon tells of a miracle that the vault in the stone occured exactly then, when a woman had been on her way home from Kössen to Marquartstein. The huge block broke exactly in the moment, when the woman would have been crushed by it.

The earliest documentary recordings about this place originate from the year 1696...

Literature: Wallfahrtsbüchlein, Geschichte von Klobenstein bei Kössen in Tirol, mit kirchlicher Druckerlaubnis im Selbstverlage der Wallfahrtskapelle, 16. edtion, 1996)