Abandoned alumina mining in Thuringia, Germany, has been a tourist attraction for over a century
Thuringia, a federal state in southeastern Germany, is beautiful. Green mountains, old castles, half-timbered villages - everything that you expect to see in Germany is here. The average tourist's joy: no special masterpieces, but pleasant and beautiful at any time of the year.
And if it's frosty, hot or heavy rains outside? For such weather, there is Saalfeld, aka Saalfeld, in the very center of Thuringia. The 25,000-seat town, which has long forgotten its mining past, is also suitable for a leisurely stroll along the route “beautiful town hall - Darrtor gate - baroque castle in the park”. But its main attraction is hiding underground in the southeastern outskirts.
These are the "Fairy Grottoes", caves in abandoned alumina mines. About 15 thousand people visit them every month. Alum (aluminum and potassium sulfate), which has been mined since the 16th century in local mines, was used as a food preservative and dye, and was also added to some medicines. With their help, water was purified and leather was tanned. The thing was needed until the middle of the 19th century, but then more effective chemical compounds appeared.
The mines were closed in 1850. They were forgotten for a good 60 years. Remembered in 1910 - not as an industrial, but as a tourist facility. It turned out that it is very beautiful underground.
Everything for the tourist
Why fairies? First, it is sonorous. And secondly, in the Middle Ages, they were mentioned several times by local documents. A certain Hans Kraepel claimed in 1635 that he not only met the "moss woman" in the outskirts of Saalfeld, but also had a nice conversation with her. Whether Hans was sober is unknown to history. And in 1662, the "earth woman" tried to steal a human child in the city and replace him with her baby.
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The Guinness Book of Records in 1993 named the Salfeld caves "the most colorful caves in the world." And it is true. Have you been to the chalk caves of Crimea or to the Crystal Cave in the Podolsk village of Kryvche? Remember the ocher darkness of the halls and the yellowish stalactites on the walls? Yes, in Saalfeld, ocher will also be the predominant color, there are up to 30 shades of it.
Maybe you were lucky enough to visit the three-level Atlantis in the Khmelnytsky region or see the mini-museum of Trypillian culture in the Mlynky cave near Chortkiv in the Ternopil region? It is very interesting there, but in Fairy Grotto everything will not be so. And the difference is noticeable already at the entrance.
How is Ukrainian tourist used to? The entrance to the cave is an iron door in the rock. It's better to dress in something that you don't mind throwing away. Infrastructure at best is a parking lot and a tent with water and modest souvenirs. In Saalfeld, you can learn how to get the most out of an attraction and get the visitor to shell out more and more.
A shop where you can buy various minerals? There is one. Glassblowing workshop, where Christmas tree decorations are created before your eyes? There is. Master classes on blowing the same Christmas tree decorations? Regularly. A children's theme park with rope ladders and tree houses? Here, just beyond the grottoes.
And what about the beautiful half-timbered mansion next to the entrance? And then there is the Grotteneum, an interactive museum of caves and mining. All inscriptions in it are duplicated in English, so even those who know only "Hitler Kaput" in German are worth a visit.
As in all other museumified caves in the world, the Fairy Grottoes are only allowed with a guide. One-hour guided tours are conducted in German, so it is worth taking an audio guide in English at the box office in advance.
Before entering the grottoes, a guide in a strict black uniform of a mining engineer of the 19th century gives each of them a red cap and a brown cloak with a hood - either a gnome's suit or a miner's uniform. In fact, such an outfit will definitely keep your clothes clean.
Then say "Kдse!" ("Cheese") - on a hill above the entrance to the grottoes stylized as a medieval tower, there is a giant camera that takes your group portrait. The next part of the ritual is to ring the bell at the entrance. Everything, now you can underground. And watch your head: in some places the corridors are only 170 cm high and only a meter wide.
The length of the underground galleries is not very long: visitors are taken to three halls. The first tells about the work in a medieval mine and about the radiation cleaning of the environment that was carried out here when the mine turned into a tourist site - the Germans are very strict about environmental issues.
In the second hall there is a spring with mineral water. It was the water that formed the colorful underground stalactites and stalagmites of Saalfeld from the soft rock. It took her 250-300 years for this, because the crystals of the "Fairy Grottoes" are much younger than most formations in natural caves.
The third hall is the so-called Fairy Kingdom. It was opened in 1913. All the most beautiful is right here. With this discovery, the tourist prospects of Saalfeld were cloudless. And what kind of clouds are there under the ground?
Since 1914, the grottoes have been opened to the public. Soon a pavilion with a cafe started working nearby. It is still in effect - work was not interrupted even during the First World War. During World War II, the grottoes were used as a kind of bomb shelter. Later, Salfeld became part of the GDR, and the caves were included in the list of attractions of the republic, where foreign tourists were taken. By the beginning of the 21st century, more than 20 million people visited the Fairy Grottoes.
Memory pebble
In the Fairy Kingdom, crystals above a quiet underground lake are illuminated from time to time to symphonic music with colorful lights, and a soft girlish voice tells the tale of fairies in Saalfeld. After all, one of the main age groups of cave visitors is children.
Don't worry, the guides are more than enough time to take pictures of the underground lake. No one will push you with long lenses and put a tripod on your foot.
And when the excursion comes to an end, the guide will give each visitor a small gem - one of those that are found in the cave. My husband got a pretty green pebble, and I asked for a wild amethyst as a keepsake.
At the exit, as is the case in most museums in Europe, there is a shop with local souvenirs. Figures of fairies, T-shirts with dragons, chocolates in tin boxes with views of the Sealfeld Town Hall, troll treasure bags (no idea what there might be), gnomish caps, photo albums, magnets, cups, spinners (where are they now?), Umbrellas with city views - whatever, for every taste!
Chocolates seem to be the best choice: there is a Stolwerk chocolate factory in the city, and its products (bars, Easter eggs, chocolate Christmas decorations, truffles) are delicious.
If time permits, it is worth visiting the local city museum in the Franciscan monastery (13th century) in the city center. There is an impressive collection of Santa Clauses from all over the world. There are even a dozen wadded copies with Soviet provenance.
And also - Gothic wooden folding altars, the very same dyes from alum in ancient flasks, Salfeld sewing machines, stuffed birds, weapons, dishes and Thuringian folk costumes. In general, a little bit of everything. A medieval school classroom, a shoe workshop and a kitchen from the late 19th century have been restored in separate rooms.
Irina Pustynnikova