Stalactite richest cave in Austria
The Katerloch
Let yourself be carried away into an underground world and learn everything there is to know about the cave and the researchers who dedicated their lives to it.
In one of the largest halls, the Fantasy Hall, which is now easily accessible through a sophisticated system of ladders and steps, there are expressive figures, fine sintered corals, wafer-thin, white and colored curtains, crystal-clear crystals and sparkling crystal columns in the middle of a true jungle of around 4,000 stalactite structures. Massive limestone formations and numerous bones found by bears create the image of a prehistoric age untouched by humans.
The Katerloch is probably known even earlier than the nearby Grasslhöhle, which was discovered around 1750 after its entrance was broken open by a tree and was first mentioned in 1816. In comparison, the entrance to the Katerloch (20 meters wide, 10 meters high) was much larger and easily recognizable from the outside.
A wealth of stalactites in perfectly beautiful shapes
From the fantasy hall you can reach the great discoveries of 1955, the magic realm and the seaside paradise, whose bizarre variety, rich in shapes, can hardly be described verbally. At the lowest point, alabaster-white stalagmites and sintered islands grow up out of the turquoise-green shimmering water surface of a cave landscape, framed by splendid bank walls. Like an oversized script, the beauty of the cave is completed here. Looking at eternal creative forces gives the visitor a happy contemplation, lets you forget everyday life and stimulates meditative thinking.
The cave explorers
Hermann and Regina Hofer
The researcher couple Hermann and Regina Hofer lived and worked during the first opening phase of the cave for a year and a half at 5 ° degrees, 98% humidity and 100 meters below the surface of the earth. In total, the two dedicated 50 years of their lives to the “Project Katerloch”. The unshakable belief in their goal was what made the two move hundreds of tons of rock with their bare hands to “lift” this underground treasure. Regina Hofer died in 1995 at the age of 83. Hermann Hofer died in 2003 at the age of 95. Two years before his death in 2003, Hermann Hofer transferred responsibility for the Katerloch research facility to Fritz Geissler.