loading . . . Discovering Laichingen’s Shaft Cave on our way to the Black Forest Our recent vacation took us back to the Black Forest (Schwarzwald), specifically Baiersbronn, for what was almost entirely a hiking adventure. However, before getting to the trails and the beautiful forests, we had to get there! Since Baiersbronn is about a four-hour drive from us, we prefered not to tackle that distance all at once. To break up the trip, we chose to stop about halfway and explore something there and thus break up the long drive.
# Discovering Tiefenhöhle Laichingen
Last time we went to the Schwarzwald, we discovered the Tiefenhöhle Laichingen (Wikipedia, official Webpage – both german only, sorry) on the map but unfortunately, blocked roads prevented us from visiting it. Going there would have meant to take quite a detour which we didn’t want to do. But this time, we were lucky! The Tiefenhöhle Laichingen is not just a “simple” cave — it is the only shaft cave in Germany that is developed into a show cave that you can visit. Visitors descend about 55 meters below ground, making it one of the deepest explorations of its kind in the country. Okay, needless to say, you shouldn’t be claustrophobic. We arrived at the cave’s entrance, purchased our tickets, and eagerly began our descent. I really appreciated that this cave allowed the exploration without a guided tour, at our own pace — especially cool for taking photos.
# Descending into the Depths
Our journey started inside the building’s basement, where we were introduced to basic information about the cave. One highlight was a large diagram illustrating the cave’s vast underground expanse and how it was discovered.
Then the real adventure started. We began descending the stairs — steep, and I mean very steep! We navigated down the almost vertical shaft through various staircases and narrow tunnels, finally reaching about 55 meters below the earth’s surface. Since it was a weekday, we found ourselves almost alone in the chill silence of the depths.
One curious observation stood out: where there was light from the lamps installed inside, moss had taken hold — growing not just upward as you might expect, but curiously reaching out toward the light in unusual angles. It looked both strange and fascinating. Especially as it was really obvious how much light was needed for the moss to grow. The further away from the lamp, the less moss there was — until there was only bare rock left.
# Impressions of the Underground
At the lowest point accessible to us, the cave opened into a modestly sized chamber. It was not sprawling by any means, but knowing how much further the cave extended beneath was humbling. One narrow passage tested our agility: it seemed like a spot where some visitors might need to turn back, but luckily we managed it without any trouble. I just thought about people with light claustrophobia. They might have a lot of “fun” there.
Ascending to the surface involved retracing our steps up steep, and in parts stairs and squeezing through the narrow shafts. If you have any claustrophobia or fear of tight spaces, this cave might be challenging — but for us, it was fun. Also the stairs are all save! All sturdy metall, just try to keep the hands on the hand rails. You really don’t want to slip there.
# Coffee and Cake
After about an hour, we came back to daylight again. We returned to the entrance building to relax with some coffee and cake — well deserved after our subterranean adventure. Refreshed and excited, we then resumed our drive to Baiersbronn to begin our vacation in the beautiful Black Forest. This “detour” into the depths certainly was a great start to our trip. https://www.franzgraf.de/blog/2025/discovering-laichingens-shaft-cave-on-our-way-to-the-black-forest/
