Top 20 Caves 포그틀랜드

Former mine entrance with cute gnome figures. Information panel attached.

A wonderful park with winding paths. There's something to discover everywhere. Ever climbed a volcano? There are various snack options nearby. Very clean and well-maintained.

The Zwergenloch is a tunnel entrance in the mining area surrounding the historic mine in the Naila region. It is located near the underground access area of the "Unterer Wilder Mann" mine. Mining in this area was predominantly active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Tunnel entrances like the Zwergenloch served for mining or access to the ore-bearing rock layers.

Mysterious Passages What to do with 1.4 million liters? That's how much beer was allowed to be brewed annually in Gera in the 17th century. As in other cities, the city's citizens – provided they owned a home – had the right to brew beer. Suitable rock cellars for storage did not exist in the surrounding area, so the resourceful citizens dug underground. Gera's beer storage facilities, known as Höhler (caves), were primarily built in the 16th and 17th centuries. The cellars, up to ten meters deep, spread out beneath Gera's old town like an underground labyrinth. More than 200 Höhler (caves) were built over the centuries, crisscrossing, stacked, and sometimes even abutting one another. Consistent temperatures of 12 to 13 degrees Celsius (54 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit) guaranteed refreshing beer enjoyment even in summer. From Coal Cellar to Tourist Attraction With the founding of the German Empire in 1871, the citizens' old private brewing rights expired, and the caves gradually fell into oblivion. Some were used as storage rooms, others filled in. In 1935, the caves were precisely surveyed and recorded for the first time. A completely new use was planned for the former beer cellars: in the event of war, they were to serve the people of Gera as underground shelters during air raids. In the 1980s, these extraordinary buildings slowly returned to public attention. Ten caves were connected by wall openings between 1986 and 1989 and have since been open to guided tours. The depiction of the various uses – as beer storage, later as coal cellars, waste dumps, or air-raid shelters – brings the history of the caves to life, and you can also discover the first natural stalactites in the centuries-old passages. https://www.gera.de/tourismus-freizeit-kultur/museen/historische-geraer-hoehler

The cave is a bit hidden so keep your eyes open when hiking 🥾 😀

Amazingly, it is not locked and can be entered - provided you have a lamp with you. After just a few steps it is pitch black and you can already hear the water at the end.

The Greiz rock cellar complex, built by private individuals or small businesses between the 17th and 18th centuries, is located in the lower part of the Greiz Castle Hill. Letters of request were submitted to the prince for the construction of the cellars, who, through lease agreements, permitted the undermining of the Castle Hill. The cellars were carved into the rock individually, each in different sizes and lengths. The individual chisel marks are still clearly visible in them, testifying to the painstaking work of the builders. A total of 19 cellars were created in the entrance area of the Castle Hill. These were used for storing food, beer, and chemicals. The usable area of the cellars is approximately 900 m² with a usable volume of approximately 2000 m³. Source: https://www.greiz.de/tourismus-kultur/tourismus/sehenswertes/stadtrundgang

According to legend, the Querkela lived in the Quarkloch. To this day, it is not clear whether the Quarkloch is a crevice in the rock or the beginning of a mining tunnel. The entrance is still clearly visible, but after five meters the cave is blocked by rubble and earth. There have been repeated attempts to uncover the cave, but this has not happened to date. The Quarkloch has managed to preserve its mystical existence.