Entrische Kirche

The Entrische Kirche is a show cave near Klammstein in the Gastein valley, Salzburg. It lies in the foothills of the Hohe Tauern range and is the largest natural cave in the Salzburg Central Alps. The cave contains vast chambers and striking formations of stalactites and flowstone. Its name first appears in a 1428 document, when it was called ‘unheimlich’ in local dialect. Between 1528 and the early 18th century Protestants used the cave for secret services during the Counter-Reformation. In 1920 explorers mapped the first fifty metres, and from 1962 Richard Erlmoser expanded the cave system and created the path for visitors. Above ground the area shelters bats that hibernate here every winter. Three protected species—the greater mouse-eared bat, lesser horseshoe bat and common pipistrelle—rely on the cave and its surroundings. The site has been a designated European protected area since 2006.