Saalfelder Feengrotten und Tourismus GmbH
Feengrottenweg 2
07318 Saalfeld
Germany
Phone: 011 49 3671 55 040
Fax: 011 49 3671 55 0440

March to October: daily 9:00 am to 5:00 pm*
November: only Saturday and Sunday 10:00 am to 3:30* pm
December to February: daily 10:00 am to 3:30* pm
* begin of last guided tour

Naturally, we overlooked the first time the sign "Feengrotten" - it was too big!
The weather was slowly changing. The rain has stopped and it almost looked like the sun wanted to come out.
We parked our little yellow car for free and were happy to walk a little bit around. We were a little bit stiff after a few hours drive.

The "Fairy Caves" are not natural caves. They are the result of earlier mining activities.
In Saalfeld it was for alum. It was needed for tanning leather, to protect wood and also by wine growers.
The "Saalfelder Feengrotten", where opened on May 31, 1914 after a merchant with the name of Adolf Müntzelburg had purchased the former mine and the spectacular caves have been discovered.
I wish there would be a financially strong group who would open a part of the underground assembly plants for jet, fighters and missiles in the "Jonastal" during WWII. We all should be familiar with history and learn our lessons to become smarter and learn from our mistakes. I do not see any thing wrong in doing that. The colosseum in Rome is also not a monument for humanity and the pyramids in Egypt were also built by slave workers. It only has to be done in the right way.
If you have decided to visit the fairy caves, please wear proper shoes - no high heels. You have to walk during the tour approximately 550 m or 600 yards and you must climb stairs. The tour takes about one hour. Protective clothing will be provided.
Don't forget your camera or camcorder. A group photo will be taken ar the end of each tour. It is not included in the price, but I think you should spend the money.

Collect all available information before the tour starts. I hope they will have them also available in English. If not, please ask specific for them.
The area around this tourist attraction is a little park. There are a playground for little children, restaurants, a gift shop and an outdoor exhibition dedicated to mining.
Use the public washrooms. Their are no facilities underground and I do not recommend that you run back on your own.
Our guide arrived after a few minutes and gave us the necessary instructions. We also received coats to protect our street cloths. Nobody rejected them and as we learned you need them. Water is dripping down and sometimes the tunnels become very narrow.
The friendly guide explained also that a certain area of the cave system is used to improve the health of people with all kind of breathing problems. There is also a very low level of natural radio activity. As we could see later our guide did not yet glow in the dark.