Atta Cave
The Largest And Most Visited Show Cave In Germany, Found By Quarrymen In 1907. Nearly Two Kilometres Of Dripstone Galleries Are Lit And Laid With Level Path, And The Air Inside Is Used As A Treatment Room For Respiratory Patients · Attendorn, North Rhine-Westphalia
Quarrymen blasting for limestone in 1907 broke into a chamber nobody knew was there, and the Atta Cave turned out to be the largest cave system of its kind in Germany - several kilometres of passages, of which roughly a kilometre and a half is lit, laid with level path and shown to visitors. It is a dripstone cave rather than a bare one: curtains, columns, straws and flowstone in chamber after chamber, with one hall big enough that concerts are held in it. The air sits at around nine degrees all year and is clean and damp enough that it is used in a side gallery for respiratory therapy, which is a serious local business rather than a curiosity. Tours are guided only, last about forty minutes and run frequently, so you turn up rather than book. It sits on the edge of Attendorn in the Sauerland hills, within a few minutes of the Biggesee reservoir, which makes the obvious day: cave in the morning, water in the afternoon, and a jacket packed in July.
Finnentroper Strasse on the edge of Attendorn, Olpe district, in the Sauerland hills, Attendorn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
The cave opens daily nearly all year, including most of the winter, with tours leaving at frequent fixed intervals rather than on demand, and the last tour well before closing. It normally shuts for a short maintenance period and on one or two holidays, which is worth checking if the trip is long. Booking is not usually needed for individuals; groups should ring ahead and school holidays bring queues at the busiest slots in the middle of the day. Tours are normally in German, with printed translations and occasional foreign-language slots. Concerts in the large chamber are ticketed separately and sell out. The site is on the edge of Attendorn with its own car park, and buses from Olpe and Finnentrop reach the town but leave a walk.