The Dechen Cave () in

Iserlohn Iserlohn (; Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Iserlaun'') is a city in the Märkischer Kreis district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest city by population and area within the district and the Sauerland region. Geogr ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, is one of the most visited

show cave A show cave—also called tourist cave, public cave, and, in the United States, commercial cave—is a cave which has been made accessible to the public for guided visits. Definition A show cave is a cave that has been made accessible to ...

s in Germany. It is located in the northern part of the

Sauerland The Sauerland () is a rural, hilly area spreading across most of the south-eastern part of the States of Germany, German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in parts heavily forested and, apart from the major valleys, sparsely inhabited. ...

at Iserlohn (Grüne district). 360 metres of the 870-metre long cave have been laid out for visitors, beginning at the spot where, in 1868, the cave was discovered by two railway workers. The workers dropped a hammer into a rock crevice which turned out to be the entrance to a

dripstone cave Dripstone may refer to: *Hood mould or dripstone, an architectural feature for handling rain water * Dripstone, a type of speleothem (cave formation) that includes for example stalactites * Dripstone, a type of water filter A water filter remov ...

when they were searching for the lost tool. The cave is named after ''Oberberghauptmann'' Heinrich von Dechen (1800–1889), in recognition of his contribution to researching the

geology Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...

of the

Rhineland The Rhineland ( ; ; ; ) is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly Middle Rhine, its middle section. It is the main industrial heartland of Germany because of its many factories, and it has historic ties to the Holy ...

and

Westphalia Westphalia (; ; ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the region is almost identical with the h ...

Owner

Due to its discovery by rail workers, the cave was first owned by the local railway company – which built the Letmathe–Fröndenberg railway – and later on by the National railway company, the last one was the

Deutsche Bundesbahn Deutsche Bundesbahn (, ) or DB () was formed as the state railway of the newly established West Germany (FRG) on 7 September 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG). The DB remained the state railway of West Germany u ...

. In 1983 the cave was taken over by the Mark Sauerland Touristik GmbH.

Railway halt

Because the cave was found and owned by the railway, a halt was built next to the visitors' entrance. Today, the Ruhr-Lenne-Express (RE16) and Ruhr-Sieg-Bahn (RB91) services stop at the halt. Both the RE16 and the RB91 services are operated by Abellio Rail NRW. It is the only cave in Germany with its own halt.

Owner

Railway halt

See also