Rocky dwellings Graufthal de la Petite Pierre

From the hiking guide of the Deltas, Alsace & Vosges. This beautiful walk made on July 26, 2012 and put online only on April 17, 2020 following the Lockdonw to promote beautiful walks close enough to home

It is often seen in France, so-called cave houses, which largely refer to houses built into the rock. The troglodyte houses of the hamlet of Graufthal near Eschbourg in the Northern Vosges are particularly picturesque. At the same time, it is difficult to imagine that it was still inhabited in the late 50s.

According to archaeologists, who conducted research there in the late nineteenth century, there are indications that the site was first used against and under overhanging rocks in the Middle Ages. But then as a simple storage space, with wooden walls. In the seventeenth century, people would live here for the first time, and in the eighteenth century they became full-fledged houses. One of the doors of the current buildings is dated 1760.

In the twentieth century, the houses housed three families, the Weber, Wagner and Ottermann families. The Wagner family first moved to more spacious homes. In 1931, the first floor of the Weber family home collapsed and the owner died shortly after. The Ottermann sisters were the last inhabitants. Madeleine died in 1947, her sister Catherine lived eleven more years in the same place. She regularly received tourists who also came to see these special living spaces.

It's nice to walk around the old houses and imagine what life was like here. You get a pretty good picture, because there are still all kinds of more or less original pieces, furniture and accessories to see. In the last chalet there is also a small exhibition on cave houses in general.