The Iberg Dripstone Cave () is a public cave and geology museum in southern

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

near Bad Grund,

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 ...

. It is located on the western edge of the

Harz mountains The Harz (), also called the Harz Mountains, is a Mittelgebirge, highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The nam ...

in the Iberg mountain at a height of above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

in the

chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Ch ...

of an upper Devonian

atoll An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical parts of the oceans and seas where corals can develop. Most ...

reef. The actual dripstone cave is 123 metres long. With its ''Captain Spatzier Gallery'', the Yellow Climb (''Gelben Stieg'') and two other caverns, the total length of the

cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

is . Between 2006 and 2008, the cave was turned into a 'cave experience centre' with the three main themes of "Fascination Cave" "The oldest family in the world" and "A reef on a journey".

History

The cave was discovered in the 16th century by miners, who were looking for deposits of

limonite Limonite () is an iron ore consisting of a mixture of hydrated iron(III) oxide-hydroxides in varying composition. The generic formula is frequently written as , although this is not entirely accurate as the ratio of oxide to hydroxide can vary qu ...

or 'brown iron ore'. In 1524, the presence of caverns in the Iberg massif was mentioned for the first time. The first account in 1737 described a visit to the cave by a doctor, Franz Ernst Brückmann, on 30 March 1723. In 1874, paths and steps were laid out and the

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 ...

was opened to the public with a viewable length of 220 metres. The entrance gallery, the Captain Spatzier Gallery (''Hauptmann-Spatzier-Stollen''), was built in 1910 and 1911. Electric lighting was added in 1912 and was extended in 1935.

Geology

The limestone mountain was originally a coral reef, formed about 385 million years ago on the spot where

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

lies today. it was subsequently moved to its present-day site as a result of

tectonic plate Plate tectonics (, ) is the scientific theory that the Earth's lithosphere comprises a number of large tectonic plates, which have been slowly moving since 3–4 billion years ago. The model builds on the concept of , an idea developed durin ...

movements over several hundred million years. The gallery built in 1910–11 runs through two natural caverns, the first being opened up as a new section, the Yellow Climb (''Gelben Stieg''), a former space largely filled with brown iron ore that had probably been excavated in the 16th century. In one chamber, blue and green

speleothem A speleothem (; ) is a geological formation made by mineral deposits that accumulate over time in natural caves. Speleothems most commonly form in calcareous caves due to carbonate dissolution reactions. They can take a variety of forms, depen ...

s coloured by copper minerals can be seen. The usual red coloration of the speleothems in the cave is due to the presence of iron. Narrow crevices that enter from the north are richly clad with sinter. Helictites may be seen at the southern main entrance. This entrance continues in the direction of the ''Spatzier Gallery'' in curves with splendid scour holes (''Auskolkungen'').

Tourism

The dripstone cave soon became very popular and one of the tourist attractions of the Harz. There were 556 visitors in 1881 and 8,436 came in 1913. Up to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, visitor numbers continued to climb, reaching 15,000 in 1937. After the war the numbers rose enormously, because the two popular Rübeländ dripstone caves,

Baumann's Cave Baumann's Cave (), located nearby Hermann's Cave, is a show cave in Rübeland in the district of Harz and is Germany's oldest show cave. The grotto was formed in the Devonian limestone of the Elbingerode Complex at least since the Bode Vall ...

and Hermann's Cave, now lay in

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

. The construction of a new main entrance, a new car park and the installation of the first 'special effects' lighting raised visitor numbers even more. In 1950 there were 88,000 visitors and, in 1953, 165,000. In 1972 the numbers crossed the 200,000 threshold for the first time. In 2003 there were 63,872 visitors, in 2007 still 50,847. In 2008 numbers rose again, to 76.971, as a result of the opening of the Cave Experience Centre (''HöhlenErlebnisZentrums''). From 2004 to 2008 the average annual number of visitors was 60,479. This makes it one of the most popular show caves in Germany. The high visitor numbers may also be put down to the cave's location which is easily accessible by road, being close to the B 242, which is a main access route for day trippers in the Upper Harz area.

Cave Experience Centre

Between 2006 and 2008 the caves were converted into a Cave Experience Centre (''HöhlenErlebnisZentrum''). A clearly visible cubic building was constructed next to the car park and the B 242. This so-called ''Museum am Berg'' ("museum on the mountain") has a , 17 to 19-degree sloping tunnel (''Museum im Berg'') linking it to the old Iberg Dripstone Cave. This expansion and conversion has the clear imprint of the district conservationist, Prof. Dr. Reinhard Roseneck, who two years earlier had come up with a new concept for the Cistercian abbey at Walkenried. The cost of the conversion was 3.85 million euros.

Museum am Berg

In the Museum am Berg, the 'oldest family in the world' is displayed: By researching the bones found at the Lichtenstein Cave about 10 miles to the south, several

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

families could be genetically identified. DNA tests on 300 local inhabitants showed that 40 of them were descendants of these Bronze Age people. In addition, the museum looks at life in the Bronze Age and displays a number of artefacts from the period. A replica of the Lichtenstein Cave, which is not accessible to tourists, may be considered.

Museum im Berg

The Museum im Berg is located in a new gallery built between 2006 and 2008 and portrays the theme "A reef on a journey" (''Ein Riff auf Reisen''). The presentation explains the formation of the Iberg as a coral reef and its subsequent move to its present-day location.

Fascination Cave

This section known as "Fascination Cave" (''Faszination Höhle'') runs through parts of the Iberg Dripstone Cave opened up over 100 years ago.

Owner

The owner of the Cave Experience Centre is the district of

Osterode am Harz Osterode am Harz (, ), often simply called Osterode (Eastphalian dialect, Eastphalian: ''Ostroe''), is a town in south-eastern Lower Saxony in central Germany on the south-western edge of the Harz mountains. It was the seat of government of the ...

External links

Official website of the Cave Experience Centre

Iberg Dripstone Cave

* Kittelsthal Dripstone Cave {{Authority control Show caves in Germany Osterode (district) Caves of the Harz Landforms of Lower Saxony Museums in Lower Saxony Natural history museums in Germany Geology museums in Germany Natural monuments in Lower Saxony Caves of Germany