The Brummstein Peter Adolphsen

The story concerned the official opening of the Holloch Caves on July 1, 1906. Next to a picture of the Dolomite Hall it was reported that although only one kilometre of the caves had been made accessible to the public, the cave explorer Hans Widmer, who was the driving force behind the project, knew of even deeper caves. 'No one knows how deep Holloch goes,' he declared. 'We joke that it reaches all the way to hell, but of course we know it doesn't really.'

'You're wrong on two counts,' Josef whispered to himself. 'The caves go all the way down, but there's no hell at the bottom.' A poem composed by the local rhymester, Richard Hardmeier, in honour of the occasion was printed below the picture:

Now open, gate to hell


And show us your terrors

Such as we have never seen before

In wide open spaces.

As yet there is no road, no path,

And barely had your trail been found

Before a few, brimming with courage,

Quenched their thirst for knowledge in you...

Translated from Danish by Charlotte Barslund