Location: 25 km North of Graz
Info: (03127) 2580
Open: Apr- Oct: 9am- 4pm daily
Lurgrotte Caves is the largest cave system in Austria. It is located 25 km North of Graz. Lurgrotte Cave was officially discovered by Max Italian Brunello on April 1st in 1894. However first scientific exploration started with the mishap. On April 29, 1895 seven cave explorers entered the underground tunnels during a heavy rain. Rising water quickly trapped brave men for nine days. The rescue effort organized by an Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph gather over 1000 local residents and volunteers. Trapped explorers were rescued alive, as several groups undertook trips inside the Lurgrotte Cave mapping about 5 km of systems
The cave was officially discovered by the Styrian speleologist Max
Brunello on April 1, 1894. However, the Lurgrotte only really became
known after an accident. On April 28, 1894, despite heavy rain, seven
speleologists climbed into the Lurgrotte. The rising water trapped them
in the cave for nine days. Only after an extensive rescue operation[3]
with over 1000 helpers, miners and divers, which required the
intervention of Emperor Franz Joseph I, could the trapped people be
rescued alive.
In February 1905, members of the Styrian Cave
Club, section of the Austrian Tourist Club, rediscovered 1002 meters of
caves.
In the 1920s, the speleologist Hermann Mayer worked with
his father to develop the "Schmelzgrotte" in the Peggau part of the
Lurgrotte. They also tried to find a connection between the Peggau part
and the part coming from Semriach. On November 26, 1924, the path was
clear after an explosive shot over the 5th siphon, but it was not until
February 13, 1935 that the first crossing was possible.
On May
23, 1926, the speleologist Poldi Fuhrich died while exploring the ghost
shaft inside the cave. The Poldi Fuhrich Cathedral, even deeper in the
mountain, was named after her.
On February 24, 1927, an auction
of the Lurgrotte in Peggau, including a restaurant, two villas and
35,359 square meters of land, took place in Frohnleiten, to which the
hope was attached that the Lurgrotte could be preserved as a local
company. - At the (further) auction of the Lurgrotte held on July 8,
1927 at the Frohnleiten district court, together with its extensive
realities from the bankruptcy estate of the commercial credit
institution, A.-G., the reality was added to the wine wholesaler Pezzi,
who sold the generous design of the Lurgrotte and planned the
construction of a grotto railway.
The first complete crossing of
the approximately five-kilometre-long cave was made in 1935. In the
years that followed, work began on expanding the Lurgrotte as a show
cave with the help of footbridges and tunnels. From 1962 it was possible
for visitors to walk through the entire cave until a storm on July 15,
1975 washed away large parts of the buildings. Today, the Lurgrotte can
be walked through with guided tours from both sides for a total of
around two kilometers.
From Semriach, the route leads through
electrically illuminated areas to the Great Cathedral. Only when the
water is low in winter (November to March, as of January 2019) are
guided tours for adults only one kilometer deeper through the ghost
shaft and areas whose path fortifications are repeatedly destroyed by
flooding. The same applies to the lower entrance in Peggau.
After
his death on October 16, 1971, the speleologist Hermann Mayer was buried
in an urn in a prepared niche in the "Victory Hall" of the Lurgrotte
Peggau, in accordance with his last will.
The Lurbach, which runs
underground there, flows through the cave. This sinks in Semriach in
creek disappearances and reappears in Peggau in the Hammerbach spring.
The Schmelzbach spring, which rises at the Peggauer cave entrance, is
only connected to the Lurbach-Hammerbach system when the water level is
high.