Nixhöhle struggles to find new cave guides

ORF reported that the Nixhöhle show cave near Frankenfels in the St. Pölten district is still searching for a successor to its long-serving guides, despite attracting 5,500 visitors so far this year.

The cave has been open to visitors for exactly 100 years and is regarded as one of the region’s most beautiful natural monuments. Almost 80-year-old retired locomotive driver Albin Tauber leads tours with a colleague who is approaching 83.

Tauber has guided visitors and school groups through the cave’s stalactite formations for 25 years. He has been seeking a successor for months, but no one has accepted the position. The work is highly time-consuming and offers only a small expense allowance. Tauber said other caves face the same difficulty in finding guides.

The season runs until October 26. Until then, Tauber and his colleague will continue taking visitors through the underground ravines.

More than 1,000 steps per tour

Guiding visitors through the Nixhöhle involves climbing 1,062 steps, often up to three times a day. Tauber said the stairs seemed to become steeper and more numerous each year, although he became accustomed to them during the season.

If no successor is found, Tauber expects to continue climbing the stairs next year, but said opening hours would have to be reduced. The cave would not close, he said.

The Nixhöhle is 1,410 metres long and has become one of the Mostviertel region’s largest tourist attractions.