The Seegrotte, near

Hinterbrühl Hinterbrühl () is a town in the district of Mödling in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It is home to the Seegrotte, a system of caves including Europe's largest underground lake. During World War II, a satellite camp of Mauthausen concentra ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, is a cave system with a large

grotto A grotto is a natural or artificial cave used by humans in both modern times and antiquity, and historically or prehistorically. Naturally occurring grottoes are often small caves near water that are usually flooded or often flooded at high ti ...

located under a former

gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, blackboard or sidewalk chalk, and drywall. ...

mine. It was closed in 1912 after the mine flooded with 20 million litres of water. It became a tourist attraction after 1930 and has been one ever since, with the exception of World War II. The lake is 60 meters below ground, the water surface is 6200 m² and pumps are used to keep the water level down. Visitors can tour the old mine and take a boat ride across the underground lake.

World War II history

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the Seegrotte was used for production of

Heinkel He 162 The Heinkel He 162 ''Volksjäger'' (German, "People's Fighter") was a German single-engine, jet-powered fighter aircraft fielded by the Luftwaffe in World War II. Developed under the Emergency Fighter Program, it was designed and built quickly ...

A jet fighters in

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

's " second Ruhr".

References

External links

Seegrotte official website

{{Authority control Nazi subterranea Mines in Austria Caves of Austria Museums in Lower Austria Mining museums in Austria Show caves in Austria Geography of Lower Austria Landforms of Lower Austria Show mines