Visiting the largest underground lake in Europe was another highlight on our Austrian trip. This lake is situated just an hour or so outside of Vienna in a clam and picturesque village of Hinterbruhl. We took a train to the town of Modling, and from there a bus to Seegrotte runs every 1 hr and the ride to Seegrotte is just 10 mins and the ticket costs €2 per person. So missing a bus either to Seegrotte or return means a penalty of 1 hr if you are in a race.
Then
The history of Seegrotte goes like this. Way back in the 1840’s, 1848 to be exact, Austrian miners started digging a mountain made of limestone to extract gypsum as it was and is a good fertilizer. They kept digging through the rocks with their miner tools and made tunnels out of bricks and underground passages with their hands (i.e., did not use any machinery). They used horses to carry around the load and these horses were made to stay underground all throughout their lives. Staying in the darkness blinded these horses. The miners created an intricate system of underground passages and rooms. They also built a Chapelle for Saint Barbara to protect them through the dangerous underground mining. There was a recreational room built for hosting parties and festivities. In 1912, they had dug two levels below ground for about 60 meters that they reached a stone wall. When they blasted this to make way, gallons of water flooded from behind and filled the second level. There were no causalities, but the place was not fit for mining anymore. The miners had to abandon this place forever. Later in the 1930’s, cave explorers discovered this place and opened it for public viewing. However, during the Word War II, the Nazi army found out about this underground place and made it their secret underground factory to build fighter jets (Heinkel He 162) safe from the enemy bombing raids. They brought prisoners from concentration camps and made them build the fuselage of aircrafts. But fortunately, these aircrafts were never put to use as the war ended before that.
Now
This 100-year-old underground lake has become a tourist attraction now. We reached the place 15 mins before 9 am, which was the opening time, and were the first to be taken in along with an older Austrian couple. The entry fee is €9 per person, but it is really worth it. We had a very sweet guide, Mr. Stephan Wagner, who was fluent in English and German. He was all dressed up in a traditional black uniform and a cap to guide us through this walk. The inside temperature was 9 degree Celsius and remains the same all throughout the year. He very neatly explained to us the history of the place and showed us the different areas on level 1— the miner’s mining area, their actual tools, which are still preserved, the horses’ stables (the stables have now been recreated with models), and the collection of the Nazi army’s plane model, original aircraft parts, and old Siemens telephone. As we were the first to enter, we had the entire place to ourselves and took our time to take in the essence of this place. The guide also showed us a spot that was used for the filming of the movie “The Three Musketeers.” In the movie, this is shown as a dingy prison in London, but in reality it’s the underground lake in Austria.
The Underground Lake
The first level also has a small lake. A flight of stairs or the incline ramp initially used by miners leads you to the second level, where you get to see the hidden beauty of nature. It’s a large underground cave filled with clear water. The average depth of the lake is just 1.2 meters, but in places the reflections make the lake look very deep. The total surface area of the lake is 6200 square meters. The guide takes you on a boat trip around the lake. It is a wonderful experience of boating way beneath the surface of the Earth!! The water is clear and still, the caves are clam and eerie, and the air is stagnant. The guide also shows us the wall from where all the water had overflowed. The wall seems to have been rebuilt now. The water level keeps rising every day as the lake is fed by seven springs but has no drain outlet, so the water has to be pumped out every night to keep it at a safe level and to keep the waters from flooding the place all over again. It’s a small trip down to the lake and back, takes about 30-40 mins. But this ride down to the crust of the earth to see this jewel of a lake was an experience to remember as one of the unusual sites to see in Austria!
For the Love of Travelling 