In the almost 150 years since its first official discovery in 1875, the Hölloch has experienced an eventful history of research and tourism. Thousands of archive pictures and countless explorer reports are witnesses to this exciting development. This knowledge, packed in many boxes and crates, is waiting to be processed and presented to a broad public in an appealing form.

The Hölloch is one of the largest cave systems in the world with over 207 km of measured passages. With the new visitor center, on the site of the now dilapidated keeper’s house, we want to present the knowledge about the unique geological natural wonder of Hölloch at a central location.

In the new visitor center, many topics such as man and cave, climate and vegetation before the ice ages, karst landscape with the largest primeval spruce forest in the Alpine region, geological connections and processes or weather development as well as the history of tourism will be presented in an exciting and inspiring way.

At the same time, we want to create a contemporary infrastructure for office, reception, storage and checkrooms, in order to be able to carry out all Hölloch activities optimally, from the reservation to the farewell.

The new visitor center is the entrance portal to the Hölloch. It offers visitors a perfect setting to understand the uniqueness of this natural wonder. The guided explorations in the unique cave together with an interactive exhibition make the visit an impressive experience.

The first floor is the meeting point and meeting place. At the Welcome Desk, visitors are greeted and informed about the upcoming cave experience. The weather station offers an up-to-date view of the exact water levels at any time. A three-dimensional cross-section model depicting the front part of the cave shows the bookable tours in an easy-to-understand way. With pictures, short texts and audio stations, the rich pioneer history is conveyed in an exciting way. In the comfortable lounge, where there is also a library with further literature, one meets before or after a guided tour with a coffee to exchange experiences.

The upper floor is divided into the forum and the activity area. Here the mediation and the scientific processing of the Hölloch with all its different aspects are settled. This area is being developed in close cooperation with the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Höllochforschung AGH. Visitors can virtually explore the vastness of the Hölloch on an interactive 3D model. At the beginning of the guided tours, a short film about the history of the origin of the Hölloch is shown in the forum.

In the activity area, there are various elements on the topics of hydrology, speleology, the history of the cave and the surveying course, which can be worked on independently or in a group. In the crawl course, you can test where you can still fit through.

The forum also serves as a learning area for the Hellhole Academy, where various workshops are offered for groups, school classes and companies.

For a successful descent of the Hölloch, careful preparation is needed. This takes place in the basement, where the equipment room with helmets, LED lamps, overalls, rubber boots and climbing harnesses is located. There the guest has access to the checkroom, toilets and washing facilities. Working through a checklist and information on safety and cave rescue complete the instruction and are at the same time the starting signal for the upcoming adventure.

• Trekking Team AG, Project Management: Peter Draganits, Marcel Murri
• Arbeitsgemeinschaft Höllochforschung AGH, Arbeitsgruppe History, Speleologie, Activity: Gregor Bättig, Jürg Pulver, Regula Höhn, Sabrina Honegger, Roman Schelbert, Aline Wildberger, Jean Godat u.a.
• Felix Ziegler (Hydrologie, Wetterstationen): Felix Ziegler
• Didaktik: Thomas Arbenz, Sonja Ulber
• Speleologist: Gerhard Amacher, Hans Moor, Marcel Rota, Kay Braun u.a.m.

Operating company/entity:

Trekking Team AG / Peter Draganits, Weggis

• Neue Regionalpolitik NRP (Bund & Kanton Schwyz) 
• Schweizer Berghilfe
• Albert Köchlin Stiftung

In order to realize the project with total costs of 2.1 million Swiss francs, support from the public sector, institutions, sponsors and other sympathizers is required in addition to private funds. With your contribution you help to make the extensive knowledge and research material about the Hölloch publicly accessible and understandable.

You can easily transfer your desired contribution via TWINT or to account CH29 0063 3740 2979 1783 1. If you would like to support us with a larger donation or in any other way, we look forward to hearing from you: Trekking Team AG, info@trekking.ch