Alland Cave

The Allander dripstone cave lies on the 478-metre Buchberg south of Alland. It was opened to the public as a show cave on 21 June 1928 and has been a protected natural monument in Lower Austria since 30 July 1949. The cave was once called the Women’s Cave and Women’s Hole. Inside, 70 metres of the 177-metre-long system are lit for visitors, with a total height difference of 25 metres. The entrance is about three metres high and 2.5 metres wide, and some passages reach twelve metres upwards. The cave holds the richest dripstone decoration of any cave in the Vienna Woods, including pearl sinter, stalactites, water shafts, moonmilk and solution notches. A largely complete brown-bear skeleton dated to 10,000 years old is the main attraction. Excavations on the Buchberg have uncovered prehistoric tools of antler, bone, stone and clay, with occasional bronze and iron finds. Local legends speak of good white women and evil black women living in the cave and of a hidden lake inside the mountain. One tale even claims a link to the Arnstein Cave three kilometres away. Archaeologists continue to study the cave’s fauna and flora, making it an international research site.